FabSwingers.com forum: A second referendum to rejoin eu.

By *hagTonight OP Man
4 weeks ago

From the land of haribos.

If there was a 2nd referendum to rejoin the eu, what do you think the outcome would be, especially now how we knew how they lied in order to win it in the first place, do you think that many would change their mind?

I read an interesting poll on ukgov and a recent poll it would suggest so, it found that 63% would vote to rejoin the eu, not just that, but it also found that it rises to 83% with 16-25 year olds. I think that sends a signal that people want to rejoin.

It would be interesting to see what your view about it is and the high figures to rejoin, do you think brexit was a good idea or a big mistake and if the brexit would be conducted rightly would they have won it?

I agree with the recent poll suggesting that people want to rejoin and I think that as I mentioned above that how brexit was based on a lie, if it was legit in the first place I dont think they would of won it

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By *icecouple561Couple
Forum Mod
4 weeks ago

East Sussex

No. I didn't agree with the first one either.

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By *hief ScoutMan
4 weeks ago

Middx/Herts borders-ish or thereabouts !

No. In MY opinion, you cannot stick approaching thirty countries with different needs, different outlooks, different priorities and different economic systems into a one-size-fits-all situation and expect it to work. But hey-ho, I was merely one of seventeen and a million racists who was apparently incapable of forming their own opinion.

I've got a set of the leaflets from the 1975 Referendum kicking around somewhere, and the problems and issues highlighted are no nearer being solved than they were fifty years ago.

I voted "out" ten years ago, and would do so again every day of the week.

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By (user no longer on site)
4 weeks ago

The Remainers thought they’d win the last referendum. If they thought for a second they would lose it they would never have held it. Thats why there won’t be another one.

“The EU” doesn't poll at all highly as an issue for electors. They are far more concerned about the economy, immigration, and defence. Quite why Starmer has spent so much time sucking up to the EU on this issue when the voters don’t care is a mystery. But that’s Starmer in a nutshell, completely out of touch.

The other thing that polling indicates is that when you dig deeper into what being in the EU actually means, in terms of control over particular aspects of their lives being exercised in Brussels, voters don’t want it at all. I suspect if there were a referendum the situation could change very rapidly once the arguments are presented in more detail. Hence again why another referendum wont happen.

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By *otMe66Man
4 weeks ago

Here and there

There is more likely to be a steady realignment to the EU through EEA.

It would be enough to satisfy those that want to return through freedom of movement, but anger those that would see the trade off as adopting EU laws and regulations, not having a vote on EU laws and still paying into the EU.

At that point a government with enough of a majority could take us back fully under a banner of agreeing with both sides.

We agree it is stupid to be paying in and not being able to vote on laws, lets rejoin and remove that issue.

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By (user no longer on site)
4 weeks ago

It would still be out if voted again, because it's ingrained and has been for over 35yrs to hate the EU based on Boris Johnson made up lies about bendy bananas etc and English exceptionalism od course. I predicted the verdict off the referendum. Personally pissed some racists stole our EU citizenship away from us. Rather a referendum on the UK staying together, since my nation is not represented on the flag, the cost of arms on the passport and in Westminster with less MP's and no veto as a country. Or ability make its own laws or own its own coastline.

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By *atnip make me purrWoman
4 weeks ago

Reading

I would vote to rejoin but I don't think this is a referendum matter as it's way too complicated for ordinary voters (myself included) to understand all the ramifications. Trouble is we won't get the great deal we had before.

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By *atnip make me purrWoman
4 weeks ago

Reading

"It would still be out if voted again, because it's ingrained and has been for over 35yrs to hate the EU based on Boris Johnson made up lies about bendy bananas etc and English exceptionalism od course. I predicted the verdict off the referendum. Personally pissed some racists stole our EU citizenship away from us. Rather a referendum on the UK staying together, since my nation is not represented on the flag, the cost of arms on the passport and in Westminster with less MP's and no veto as a country. Or ability make its own laws or own its own coastline. "

We should have a dragon right in the middle of the flag.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
4 weeks ago

Gilfach

"I agree with the recent poll suggesting that people want to rejoin and I think that as I mentioned above that how brexit was based on a lie, if it was legit in the first place I dont think they would of won it"

The other side also lied, claiming that if we left we wouldn't be able to buy french wine any more, it would cost the economy £380bn per year, etc. if we had another referendum there would be a lot more fact checking of the arguments made.

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By *adBod_76Man
4 weeks ago

Witham

Well, I suppose you're right it wasn't £380bn a year, it was only 100bn. Source: UK government impact assessments.

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By *CExeCouple
4 weeks ago

Hong-Kong/Exeter

I voted Remain originally. Having now read up and researched the EU thoroughly, I'd vote to remain out of it. A truly wretched organisation. That Walter Hallstein, the first EU commissioner had fought for Germany in WW2 for the Wehrmacht is telling.

My ex is Basque Spanish, and a few years ago was a staunch EU fan. Now she's desperate for Spain to leave the EU. The only folks I talk to who are fans of the EU are genteel middle class folks who's main gripe seem to be that they despise Farage and that going on holiday is a bit tricky.

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By *arry and MegsCouple
4 weeks ago

Ipswich

"The Remainers thought they’d win the last referendum. If they thought for a second they would lose it they would never have held it. Thats why there won’t be another one.

The issues you quote, economy, immigration and defense are inextricably linked to the EU but the EU don't want or need another burden

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By *iman2100Man
4 weeks ago

Glasgow

I voted remain. The key winning messages from the leavers were "Take back control" Domonic Cummings. - Who feels more in control now? Anyone?

The other mantra was "Project Fear". Every time a remainer spoke of the genuine difficulties Britain would face after Brexit the Brexiteers would chant that slogan. Too many voters voted with their heart and not their head.

Farage, Cummings, Johnson and Gove and others said we would be free to trade with the world.

So we went to India. "We would be happy to trade with you" they said "After we have settled the matter of reparations for the things you stole from India in the Victorian era"

We went to New Zealand "So, now You want to trade with us? Do you remember when you joined the EU and you dumped us over night? Now we are a SE Asian country and trade with China and India."

We went to the USA "Yes, sure thing! We can talk about trade with the UK in a year or so after we have concluded our current rounds with the EU, Uruguay, Chili and Vietnam and ..."

We went to the EU "WTF? you just divorced from us and now you want to trade? AND you want us to expend our resources stopping migrants boating to Britain? Your British sence of humour is lost on us"

As of 2026, research indicates Brexit has imposed significant, long-term costs on the British economy. Studies estimate UK GDP per capita is 6%–8% lower and investment 12%–18% lower than if the UK had remained in the EU. The impact has resulted in a smaller economy, with increased trade barriers and reduced productivity.

So, presumably, we have control but a faultering economy and few friends.

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By *eroy1000Man
4 weeks ago

milton keynes

I don't know anyone that has changed their minds on how they originally voted. Maybe they are not being truthful about it but then again maybe they are not truthful about their original vote either. Ironically the financial sector in London who once was very much in favour of remaining in the EU are now against rejoining it and want to stay out. Rather than another referendum I think it will be a political party that has rejoin in its manifesto and wins a GE. One of the arguments against the first referendum was that it was far to complicated for the general public so should not have happened. Will take some major spin to now claim it's ok for the general public to decide. There is an official rejoin party though their results have yet to match these polls

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By (user no longer on site)
4 weeks ago

"The Remainers thought they’d win the last referendum. If they thought for a second they would lose it they would never have held it. Thats why there won’t be another one.

The issues you quote, economy, immigration and defense are inextricably linked to the EU but the EU don't want or need another burden "

They aren’t inextricably linked at in any material sense.

Constitutionally the UK is in total control of its borders. Its politicians just choose to do nothing to take the necessary steps to control them.

As far as the economy is concerned the UK was up to July 2024 performing slightly ahead of equivalent EU countries but for some reason since then things have got worse. This is one of the problems of course generally that people cannot identify what the problems or the solutions are. So they (some of them) say “ah the economy is going badly we should rejoin the EU” but the EU economy is doing as badly if not worse than the UK so how would rejoining help? Much of the problem is just a chronic lack of economic literacy in the UK population.

The UK’s economic problems are entirely of its own making. Poor productivity, high taxation and regulation, an immobile labour force, poor infrastructure, insufficient housing etc. Of course a Labour government is ideologically incapable of actually doing anything about any of those issues, so it has to claim that the answer lies elsewhere (the EU).

As for defence, in the unlikely event that Russia invades Kent, who will the British government call for assistance and who will help? The EU? With what? It would be NATO and more specifically the US that would be the only saviour.

A lot of Leftists are deluded about Europe’s place in the world. Twenty years ago, the EU made up 25% of the global economy. Today it’s 17%. On OECD forecasts by 2050 it will be less than 9%. Like the EU, too many Leftists live in some 1950’s fantasy world where the White European has a God given right to rule and to be rich. They just need to get out more.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
4 weeks ago

Gilfach

"The other side also lied, claiming that if we left we wouldn't be able to buy french wine any more, it would cost the economy £380bn per year, etc. if we had another referendum there would be a lot more fact checking of the arguments made."

"Well, I suppose you're right it wasn't £380bn a year, it was only 100bn. Source: UK government impact assessments."

That figure comes from the Office for Budget Responsibility, which is government funded but independent. I'll let you look up what sort of reputation they have for their figures.

They based their analysis on the assumption that trade would reduce by 15%, and calculated from there. Trade hasn't reduced that much. It's down by less than 2% at the moment.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
4 weeks ago

Gilfach

"As of 2026, research indicates Brexit has imposed significant, long-term costs on the British economy. Studies estimate UK GDP per capita is 6%–8% lower and investment 12%–18% lower than if the UK had remained in the EU."

20 years ago the UK had the 5th largest economy. Covid has messed up the figures, but very roughly the UK has tracked the performance of Germany over the past 20 years, recently overtaking France to claim the 4th largest economy spot. Are you really saying that in the 6 years since Brexit the economy would have grown by 8% more than Germany if we'd stayed in the EU, bucking the 20 year trend and significantly outpacing every other economy in the EU?

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By *mberValleyManMan
4 weeks ago

Derby/Notts

The Rest Is Money had an episode recently on the effects of Brexit.

Worth a listen if you can

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-rest-is-money/id1703785141?i=1000764587647

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By *rad BittMan
4 weeks ago

public

It has been the biggest political con in my lifetime. US and China are the world's superpowers and it makes absolutely no sense to be isolated from Europe where collaboration on defence is vital. Still cannot believe we have given up all our rights to live, work and study and the rights of our children. It's been a disaster for the UK and Europe.

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By *ermbiMan
4 weeks ago

Ballyshannon

Referendum based on falsehoods. No referendum commission to give a balanced view. Politicians were sensationalist.

What have you won by leaving the EU cannot be answered. There are no big headline wins. Control of borders, laws and money is a nonsense. Laws still in place that were EU laws. A con job. The sooner Ireland unites the better so we can automatically rejoin the EU.

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By *eralDeviantWoman
4 weeks ago

Hull

Would the second vote be 'non legally binding' too?

We had an opportunity to influence from within, we wont get it again

Glad were out just so the 'country' has less clout and so adults of voting age have finally started having an opinion on the systems at play around us

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
4 weeks ago

Gilfach

"Referendum based on falsehoods. No referendum commission to give a balanced view. Politicians were sensationalist."

That's true, there was a lot of untruths and sensationalism on both sides.

"What have you won by leaving the EU cannot be answered."

It gets answered all the time, it's just that the people asking the question don't listen to the answers.

"There are no big headline wins."

That's true, but then there were no big headline wins for the other choice.

"Laws still in place that were EU laws."

True again, but that's not the fault of Brexit. It's the fault of the politicians for not changing anything.

"A con job."

We can agree on that, but probably for different reasons.

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By *ools and the brainCouple
4 weeks ago

couple, us we him her.

For people asking what Brexit has done for good.

Personally speaking as a member of the building trade its massively improved wages in this sector, previously employers happy to pay for cheap European labour, now having to pay market rate wages.

The industry was dying for British tradespeople.

However the flip side of this is hospitality has suffered massively unable to replace lots of cheap labour as the wages are not enough for people to live on or is it people are unwilling to do manual stuff and want to walk into massively Well paid jobs straight from school or uni?

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By *ecadentDeviantsCouple
4 weeks ago

North West

‘It wasn’t the right kind of Brexit’

What is then?

As regards rejoining, I suspect you can forget about the four opt outs & we’d be having the Euro.

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By (user no longer on site)
4 weeks ago

"‘It wasn’t the right kind of Brexit’

What is then?

As regards rejoining, I suspect you can forget about the four opt outs & we’d be having the Euro.

Congratulations on working out why we won’t be rejoining.

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By *ecadentDeviantsCouple
4 weeks ago

North West

"‘It wasn’t the right kind of Brexit’

What is then?

As regards rejoining, I suspect you can forget about the four opt outs & we’d be having the Euro.

Congratulations on working out why we won’t be rejoining."

Yes, there certainly still seem to be a lot of Little Ingurlunders out there.

I suspect that may change though as the older generations die off & nothing much improves in the meantime.

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By *m3232Man
4 weeks ago

maidenhead

Best thing we ever did getting out of Europe. It still has a few years to play out until Europe fails.

For everyone I know leaving has had 0 impact on our daily life.

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By *resesse_MelioremCouple
4 weeks ago

Border of London

"Best thing we ever did getting out of Europe. It still has a few years to play out until Europe fails.

For everyone I know leaving has had 0 impact on our daily life. "

The immediate impact on the pound, which has still not recovered? Inflation on European food imports?

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By *rad BittMan
4 weeks ago

public

"Best thing we ever did getting out of Europe. It still has a few years to play out until Europe fails.

For everyone I know leaving has had 0 impact on our daily life. "

What's the specific best thing?

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
4 weeks ago

Gilfach

"Best thing we ever did getting out of Europe. It still has a few years to play out until Europe fails.

For everyone I know leaving has had 0 impact on our daily life."

"The immediate impact on the pound, which has still not recovered?"

Do you have any figures for that? A quick glance at the graphs shows that Sterling is trading in much the same way that it always has. There were big changes in the run up to the referendum, but now it's settled back to roughly where it was before.

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By *resesse_MelioremCouple
4 weeks ago

Border of London

[Removed by poster at 08/05/26 08:59:20]

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By *resesse_MelioremCouple
4 weeks ago

Border of London

Before the Brexit referendum in June 2016, the Pound was trading at around $1.50 against the US Dollar and around €1.30 against the Euro.

Immediately following the leave vote, the pound plunged and has structurally never returned to those pre-referendum heights. Just Google a graph that covers that period or, better, the past fifteen years.

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By *usie pTV/TS
4 weeks ago

taunton

Has anyone asked the EU if they would let us rejoin and if so on what terms.

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By *resesse_MelioremCouple
4 weeks ago

Border of London

"Has anyone asked the EU if they would let us rejoin and if so on what terms."

They would love to take us back on their punitive terms. That is primarily why it's unlikely to happen any time soon. They've expressed that they need the UK to be seen to suffer.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
4 weeks ago

Gilfach

"Do you have any figures for that? A quick glance at the graphs shows that Sterling is trading in much the same way that it always has. There were big changes in the run up to the referendum, but now it's settled back to roughly where it was before.

Before the Brexit referendum in June 2016, the Pound was trading at around $1.50 against the US Dollar and around €1.30 against the Euro.

In June 2013 the rate was 1.17, below where we are today. What leads you to believe that it's Brexit that has caused today's rate?

If you look at the 20yr graph it's clear that there was a big spike in 2015/2016, but before and after that it's relatively flat line.

I wish we could post graphs here.

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By *resesse_MelioremCouple
4 weeks ago

Border of London

Before the Brexit referendum in June 2016, the Pound was trading at around $1.50 against the US Dollar and around €1.30 against the Euro.

In June 2013 the rate was 1.17, below where we are today. What leads you to believe that it's Brexit that has caused today's rate?

If you look at the 20yr graph it's clear that there was a big spike in 2015/2016, but before and after that it's relatively flat line.

I wish we could post graphs here."

The truth is, it's never going to be possible to definitively prove what would have happened either way. Our observation was that the pound tanked in the immediate wake of the referendum against many other currencies (USD/Euro specifically) and became less valuable generally as a result. Might we still be in the same position today had we not left? Possibly. Our view is no. This is because the UK was no longer the obvious English speaking gateway to Europe/Eurozone (now Ireland is), and frictionless trade is no longer possible. That slightly devalues the UK from a foreign investment perspective (lowering demand for pounds).

This is not a plug for or against Brexit or the EU. This is simply addressing the statement that "leaving has had 0 impact on our daily life". It has, for everyone in the UK, whether or not it's worth it.

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By *tar6926Man
4 weeks ago

Manchester

No chance. The result should be accepted.

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By *hromakeyDreamcoatMan
4 weeks ago

Carlisle

I’d vote to rejoin but as so many people in this country seem to delight in punching themselves in the face, there’s no guarantee rejoin would win.

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By *uietbloke67Man
4 weeks ago

outside your bedroom window ;-)

Rejoin.

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By *ark742024Man
4 weeks ago

Stoke/Cheshire

"No. In MY opinion, you cannot stick approaching thirty countries with different needs, different outlooks, different priorities and different economic systems into a one-size-fits-all situation and expect it to work. But hey-ho, I was merely one of seventeen and a million racists who was apparently incapable of forming their own opinion.

I've got a set of the leaflets from the 1975 Referendum kicking around somewhere, and the problems and issues highlighted are no nearer being solved than they were fifty years ago.

I voted "out" ten years ago, and would do so again every day of the week. "

Enjoy poverty

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By *bro24Man
3 weeks ago

North

I'd vote to rejoin if it meant less illegal channel crossers, hate those people.

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By (user no longer on site)
3 weeks ago

I've got a set of the leaflets from the 1975 Referendum kicking around somewhere, and the problems and issues highlighted are no nearer being solved than they were fifty years ago.

I voted "out" ten years ago, and would do so again every day of the week.

Enjoy poverty "

Countries in Europe with the highest GDP per capita:

Liechtenstein (not in EU)

Luxembourg

Ireland

Switzerland (not in EU)

Norway (not in EU)

Iceland (not in EU)

“Poverty”.

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By *otandDashCouple
3 weeks ago

farnham

The Polls were proven to be inaccurate if you remember at the last referendum , Think it would just cause more division in an already divided country and once the campaigning starts Farage would win hands down again .

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By *hromakeyDreamcoatMan
3 weeks ago

Carlisle

"I'd vote to rejoin if it meant less illegal channel crossers, hate those people."

Why do you hate them?

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By *hromakeyDreamcoatMan
3 weeks ago

Carlisle

"The Polls were proven to be inaccurate if you remember at the last referendum , Think it would just cause more division in an already divided country and once the campaigning starts Farage would win hands down again ."

I’m not sure about that, people are feeling the consequences of not being in the EU, and support for Farage/Reform seems to have topped out at about 25/26%. The demographics of the country have changed massively, and a very large number of those who voted to leave are now dead.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
3 weeks ago

Gilfach

"I'd vote to rejoin if it meant less illegal channel crossers, hate those people."

Do you hate the people, or the fact that they crossed illegally? Re-joining the EU would mean a lot more of those people arriving here, but they would be doing it legally.

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By *m3232Man
3 weeks ago

maidenhead

"I'd vote to rejoin if it meant less illegal channel crossers, hate those people."

That would make that situation worse the eu leaders are muppets to an external control just like our current clown.

We need Restore to take control and lock the UK down and clear out Illegals.

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By *mberValleyManMan
3 weeks ago

Derby/Notts

"I'd vote to rejoin if it meant less illegal channel crossers, hate those people."

Hate?

Why?

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By *konomiyaki2018Man
3 weeks ago

Around

I've got a set of the leaflets from the 1975 Referendum kicking around somewhere, and the problems and issues highlighted are no nearer being solved than they were fifty years ago.

I voted "out" ten years ago, and would do so again every day of the week.

Enjoy poverty

Countries in Europe with the highest GDP per capita:

Liechtenstein (not in EU)

Luxembourg

Ireland

Switzerland (not in EU)

Norway (not in EU)

Iceland (not in EU)

“Poverty”.

Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein & Switzerland* all have much deeper, closer cooperation with the EU, via Single Market/EEA membership; all which are a lot deeper than The UK currently has. We can argue about benefits of closer EU ties in terms of policies, but having ties does benefit a country's economy.

*Switzerland has numerous, complex agreements which replicate Single Market membership, but which Switzerland & The EU will never want to do again, as it's constant negotiation.

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By *ophieslutTV/TS
Forum Mod
3 weeks ago

Central

It's a tough call, based on the popularity of Reform and Farage who would do everything in his power, to get a remain out vote result.

Farage is also backed by multi-billionaires, who want to bankroll him, to keep the UK outside, plus similar media outlets, who would aim to influence the population, to get the result they want.

I don't think the typical person can reasonably grasp such complex metrics, of the economy and impacts of such decisions, so I'm uncertain about such votes.

We definitely should be inside Europe.

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By *ecadentDeviantsCouple
3 weeks ago

North West

Leave won by about 600,000 votes. Older generations - in the main - were the ones who voted to leave.

Every year in the UK about 500,000 people die, most of them in the 80+ age group.

The Brexit vote was ten years ago…

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By *eroy1000Man
3 weeks ago

milton keynes

I know it was only council elections and devolved elections but do people think the results reinforce the polls that say most people want to rejoin now?

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By *anielandSKCouple
3 weeks ago

Oxfordshire

"If there was a 2nd referendum to rejoin the eu, what do you think the outcome would be, especially now how we knew how they lied in order to win it in the first place, do you think that many would change their mind?

No thanks. I think the outcome would be the same, to stay out of the EU.

The polling data pushed usually is regarding rejoining on the same or similar terms on which we left; that isn't an option, the EU made it clear any new or rejoining members must sign up for full membership, euro, foreign service (incl. ambitions for single armed forces command structure) and no UK rebate... when the question is reframed the numbers for those in favour drops again (is sometimes available in the data when linked to the news articles, if that was asked)

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By (user no longer on site)
3 weeks ago

Labour’s attitude to the EU is very odd I think.

Having suffered electoral wipeout in 2019 on the back of their Brexit games you think they’d have been keen to avoid the topic like the plague.

But 18 months into office and they started banging on about the EU again.

Starmer was the primary cheerleader for a repeat referendum and I presume it’s just a weird obsession of his alongside the Chagos islands and he just can’t help himself.

Plus it’s just another thing in the long list of Starmer’s imaginary culprits to blame for his own failures.

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By *inky PerkyCouple
3 weeks ago

Narnia

Because all those things are related. When it comes to the economy, the EU is the only bloc that has enough clout to challenge the US and China. When it comes to immigration, STOP THE BOATS is a bumper sticker, not a policy and immigration can only really be fixed if the European countries work together to do something about it. As for defence, Putin is licking his lips at how Fat Donnie has hobbled NATO and a unified defense strategy that doesn't rely on the US is the only real alternative.

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By (user no longer on site)
3 weeks ago

They aren’t related at all.

The EU isn’t “challenging” China and the US economically, whatever that means. The EU economy is in fact going in totally the wrong direction. It has stalled for years (since 2008) and is an increasingly small part of the global economy. The UK rejoining the EU for economic reasons would be like a club at the bottom of the Premiership thinking it can move up the league by volunteering to join the Championship.

Having witnessed immigration chaos across Europe for the past two decades I cannot see how anyone can seriously suggest that the EU is the answer. If it were, why hasn’t it resolved the problem over the past twenty years?

As for defence, the UK can participate in whatever international alliances it wishes to without giving up sovereignty. After all, we have never had to have elections to send MP’s to NATO or fly NATO flags everywhere or start singing some sort of NATO “national anthem”. The EU army will never happen.

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By *inky PerkyCouple
3 weeks ago

Narnia

They aren’t related at all.

Are you kidding?? The EU economy is enormous. The value of EU exports is more than that of the US and China combined. It has real leverage there and real bargaining power. Scale matters, however much you hate Brussels. Stopping mass migration from the middle east requires a co-ordinated approach from all the European countries affected. It probably requires big amendments to the ECHR. Silly "send them back" rhetoric is also just a bumper sticker. Where to?? Go tell Italy that the UK has an immigration problem and watch them fall over laughing - ditto Greece, Spain, Cyprus. Nobody is calling for removal of "sovereignty" (whatever that means) when it comes to defence. If you don't think there is a very good, practical reason to stop Russia just taking whatever country it wants, especially now it's clear that Trump is most definitely not on Europe's side, then I'd like to know how that's going to happen when we field 150,000 troops compared to Russia's 1.5 million. So if the topics of the economy, migration and defence are as important as you say they are, explain how getting back in with Europe is not a very smart move.

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By *ctionSandwichCouple
3 weeks ago

Newcastle under Lyme

How are EU economies doing again and what really is different with the UK? We'd say fuel prices are the biggest impact as opposed to brexit. We have some of the highest fuel prices in the world.

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By *amantMan
3 weeks ago

Alnmouth

The reality is we had the best deal of any member and we wouldn't get it (and certainly not a better one again). 59% may agree in theory but would they be comfortable with years of negotiations? Or have to shift one of our red lines, possibly on the adoption of the Euro? There exists parties in Britain who want to take us back in and that's right, people who want us back in whatever the cost should vote for them but the formerly pro-European Labour Party should not force itself into accomodating a position which they know is unnecessarily divisive.

I did not vote to leave and do not regret that vote at all. The world currently vindicates the position of the remain camp. We are in Europe, our neighbours and biggest trading partners are the EU. We cannot divorce ourselves from that reality. Further, the US is a deeply unreliable ally and being a vassal of the US is akin to being reliant on the voters in places like Wisconsin. You have to pick your poison when it comes to foreign policy, a large economy such as ours cannot be independent from the biggest trading bloc in the entire world which we share both a land and sea border with. Us being outside of the political union does not prevent us from having close ties with the Europeans. It will mean accepting that we are informally part of the European family but they also have to accept that a Britain on the edge of the continent constantly at war with itself is not beneficial to them either. The way the EU has behaved with regards to us negotiating being part of the SAFE programme has been deeply disappointing and those supporting hardline stances against Britain do the continent a disservice. Britain is an important ally for the security of the continent and that is our choice. It is within our interests but if they want to keep it that way, they will have to make certain concessions because either it's security first, or it's punishment first. If it's the latter, we all lose.

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By *resesse_MelioremCouple
3 weeks ago

Border of London

We were both against leaning the EU and still regret that it happened.

However, rejoining cannot be considered in the light of what we had or the lens of regret. Of would need to look at the current state, the realities of any offer, the difference between the two and cost/trade off. It's unlikely that what we would get is substantially superior than the position we are currently in, that could not be achieved through other, better, agreements and arrangements.

So at some point on the scale of possibilities, rejoining would be a no-brainer. Negotiations might conceivably, but probably would not, ever get to that point. And without knowing what deal is on the table, should anyone voice a "definitely in" or "definitely out" opinion, then you know it's based on emotion or ideology, not what's best for themselves or the UK.

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By *inky PerkyCouple
3 weeks ago

Narnia

I did vote to leave. Freedom of movement had become less of a reciprocal exchange and more like a one way labour market system that benefitted employers at the expense of British workers.

But we live in a very different world now. The existential problems we face can't be fixed by the UK going it alone. We'd be nuts not to make some kind of formal alliance with the EU.

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By *winga2Man
3 weeks ago

Stranraer

The UK rejoining the EU for economic reasons would be like a club at the bottom of the Premiership thinking it can move up the league by volunteering to join the Championship.

EU army will never happen."

So it's better to stay in the schoolboy league ?

I thought the EU army was one of leave campaigns issues with staying in the EU

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By *eroy1000Man
3 weeks ago

milton keynes

They aren’t related at all.

Where can I find information on the EU exports being greater than China and USA combined. What I have found so far states the opposite. China figures 3.77 trillion and USA 2.18 trillion giving combined 5.95 trillion for 2025. EU figures not finalized for 2025 but 2024 was 2.18 trillion. It would be a massive leap in 2025 from 2.18 to over 5.95 . When asking Google it says to make the figures higher than China and USA combined this is likely combining EU internal trade between member states and external to rest of world so not a true comparison.

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By *ostindreamsMan
3 weeks ago

London

Are you kidding?? The EU economy is enormous. The value of EU exports is more than that of the US and China combined. It has real leverage there and real bargaining power.

Looks like you are still living in the past. In a global scale, EU is going down the path of irrelevance. They lost the tech race. They are on track to lose the AI race too. People have stopped taking the EU seriously for a while now.

Scale matters, however much you hate Brussels. Stopping mass migration from the middle east requires a co-ordinated approach from all the European countries affected. It probably requires big amendments to the ECHR.

Pretty sure David Lammy attempted this recently. And it hasn't gone anywhere.

If you don't think there is a very good, practical reason to stop Russia just taking whatever country it wants, especially now it's clear that Trump is most definitely not on Europe's side, then I'd like to know how that's going to happen when we field 150,000 troops compared to Russia's 1.5 million. "

Angela Merkel has done more damage to Europe in favour of Russia than Trump ever did.

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By *ermbiMan
3 weeks ago

Ballyshannon

Are you kidding?? The EU economy is enormous. The value of EU exports is more than that of the US and China combined. It has real leverage there and real bargaining power.

Pretty sure David Lammy attempted this recently. And it hasn't gone anywhere.

Angela Merkel has done more damage to Europe in favour of Russia than Trump ever did."

What people have stopped taking the EU seriously?

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By *ermbiMan
3 weeks ago

Ballyshannon

No thanks. I think the outcome would be the same, to stay out of the EU.

Interesting comments there especially when leaving the EU was built on inaccuracies and in some cases lies

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By *ermbiMan
3 weeks ago

Ballyshannon

"I'd vote to rejoin if it meant less illegal channel crossers, hate those people.

That would make that situation worse the eu leaders are muppets to an external control just like our current clown.

We need Restore to take control and lock the UK down and clear out Illegals. "

And what evidence are you basing this fantasy on?

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By *abioMan
3 weeks ago

Newcastle and Gateshead

Why are we assuming the EU would just want us back…. We haven;t been the most reliable of partners… and we literally had a bespoke carve out deal and we still told them to go f themselves!

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By *ostindreamsMan
3 weeks ago

London

Are you kidding?? The EU economy is enormous. The value of EU exports is more than that of the US and China combined. It has real leverage there and real bargaining power.

Pretty sure David Lammy attempted this recently. And it hasn't gone anywhere.

Angela Merkel has done more damage to Europe in favour of Russia than Trump ever did.

What people have stopped taking the EU seriously?"

Right now, the EU has much lower Geopolitical influence over the rest of the world. They screwed up their economy. They screwed up their energy independence. They screwed up their defense.

Forget other countries, even the EU member stated have stopped respecting the EU. Poland and Hungary for example just refused to implement EU's migrant sharing pact.

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By *eroy1000Man
3 weeks ago

milton keynes

"Why are we assuming the EU would just want us back…. We haven;t been the most reliable of partners… and we literally had a bespoke carve out deal and we still told them to go f themselves!"

That's true. I have not heard of any EU country officially saying one way or the other if the UK would be allowed back in. If they did say sod off then at least it would solve the question of wether to rejoin or not

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
3 weeks ago

Gilfach

"I have not heard of any EU country officially saying one way or the other if the UK would be allowed back in."

Well you wouldn't. EU countries are legally not permitted to make such statements.

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By *konomiyaki2018Man
3 weeks ago

Around

"I have not heard of any EU country officially saying one way or the other if the UK would be allowed back in.

Well you wouldn't. EU countries are legally not permitted to make such statements."

You sure about that?

Finland's: Brexit was “a colossal mistake” and the U.K. should rejoin the European Union, (Finnish PM) Alexander Stubb said Tuesday. (March 2026)

Poland: Poland's Foreign Minister: Radoslaw Sikorski...urging the UK to "come back to the fold". . (January 2026)

Hungary: Péter Magyar, who defeated Viktor Orban in a stunning result overnight, said he 'hoped' the UK would become a (EU) member state again. (April 2026)

I can go on...

Let's at least be factual

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By *hromakeyDreamcoatMan
3 weeks ago

Carlisle

"I have not heard of any EU country officially saying one way or the other if the UK would be allowed back in.

Well you wouldn't. EU countries are legally not permitted to make such statements.

You sure about that?

Finland's: Brexit was “a colossal mistake” and the U.K. should rejoin the European Union, (Finnish PM) Alexander Stubb said Tuesday. (March 2026)

Poland: Poland's Foreign Minister: Radoslaw Sikorski...urging the UK to "come back to the fold". . (January 2026)

Hungary: Péter Magyar, who defeated Viktor Orban in a stunning result overnight, said he 'hoped' the UK would become a (EU) member state again. (April 2026)

I can go on...

Let's at least be factual"

To be fair, none of those statements are countries saying the UK would be allowed back in, they are politicians giving their opinion.

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By *konomiyaki2018Man
3 weeks ago

Around

"I have not heard of any EU country officially saying one way or the other if the UK would be allowed back in.

Well you wouldn't. EU countries are legally not permitted to make such statements.

You sure about that?

Finland's: Brexit was “a colossal mistake” and the U.K. should rejoin the European Union, (Finnish PM) Alexander Stubb said Tuesday. (March 2026)

Poland: Poland's Foreign Minister: Radoslaw Sikorski...urging the UK to "come back to the fold". . (January 2026)

Hungary: Péter Magyar, who defeated Viktor Orban in a stunning result overnight, said he 'hoped' the UK would become a (EU) member state again. (April 2026)

I can go on...

Let's at least be factual

To be fair, none of those statements are countries saying the UK would be allowed back in, they are politicians giving their opinion."

Several Prime Ministers/leaders of various EU member states have stated publicly they want to UK to rejoin; I would believe that is a strong indication of each member states opinion...unless you want each member state to hold a referendum to see if the voters want the UK back or not (which is mad IMO)

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By *hromakeyDreamcoatMan
3 weeks ago

Carlisle

"I have not heard of any EU country officially saying one way or the other if the UK would be allowed back in.

Well you wouldn't. EU countries are legally not permitted to make such statements.

You sure about that?

Finland's: Brexit was “a colossal mistake” and the U.K. should rejoin the European Union, (Finnish PM) Alexander Stubb said Tuesday. (March 2026)

Poland: Poland's Foreign Minister: Radoslaw Sikorski...urging the UK to "come back to the fold". . (January 2026)

Hungary: Péter Magyar, who defeated Viktor Orban in a stunning result overnight, said he 'hoped' the UK would become a (EU) member state again. (April 2026)

I can go on...

Let's at least be factual

To be fair, none of those statements are countries saying the UK would be allowed back in, they are politicians giving their opinion.

It’s a strong indicator, but it’s not coming out and saying “the stated policy of xxxxxx is that it would accept the UK back into the EU.” I’ve no idea if it’s illegal for them to do that, as the other person said, but there is a difference.

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By *konomiyaki2018Man
3 weeks ago

Around

"I have not heard of any EU country officially saying one way or the other if the UK would be allowed back in.

Well you wouldn't. EU countries are legally not permitted to make such statements.

You sure about that?

Finland's: Brexit was “a colossal mistake” and the U.K. should rejoin the European Union, (Finnish PM) Alexander Stubb said Tuesday. (March 2026)

Poland: Poland's Foreign Minister: Radoslaw Sikorski...urging the UK to "come back to the fold". . (January 2026)

Hungary: Péter Magyar, who defeated Viktor Orban in a stunning result overnight, said he 'hoped' the UK would become a (EU) member state again. (April 2026)

I can go on...

Let's at least be factual

To be fair, none of those statements are countries saying the UK would be allowed back in, they are politicians giving their opinion.

I understand your point, but IMO, the leader of any EU member state openly saying they want the UK back in the EU is very strong backing. It is a negotiation, so to come out & say "Hungary's policy is UK to rejoin", it could/would cause issues, giving cards away, as per the cliché (for example; beside Hungary & Romania for Transylvania).

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
3 weeks ago

Gilfach

"I have not heard of any EU country officially saying one way or the other if the UK would be allowed back in."

"Well you wouldn't. EU countries are legally not permitted to make such statements."

"You sure about that?

Finland's: Brexit was “a colossal mistake” and the U.K. should rejoin the European Union, (Finnish PM) Alexander Stubb said Tuesday. (March 2026)

Poland: Poland's Foreign Minister: Radoslaw Sikorski...urging the UK to "come back to the fold". . (January 2026)

Hungary: Péter Magyar, who defeated Viktor Orban in a stunning result overnight, said he 'hoped' the UK would become a (EU) member state again. (April 2026)

I can go on...

Let's at least be factual"

Individual politicians saying that they personally think the UK should rejoin, is not the same thing as saying that a country would vote to allow the UK back in.

Any EU politician is allowed to give their opinion on EU matters, but only the EU itself is allowed to undertake negotiations. A member country committing itself to allowing in a new member would be reducing the EU's negotiating power, and so there are laws that prevent them from doing that.

Those same laws are one of the reasons that the UK was so slow in getting new trade deals sorted out. When we were members of the EU it was illegal for us to hold trade talks, so we had to wait until we were out before starting the process (officially at least).

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By *konomiyaki2018Man
3 weeks ago

Around

"I have not heard of any EU country officially saying one way or the other if the UK would be allowed back in.

Well you wouldn't. EU countries are legally not permitted to make such statements.

You sure about that?

Finland's: Brexit was “a colossal mistake” and the U.K. should rejoin the European Union, (Finnish PM) Alexander Stubb said Tuesday. (March 2026)

Poland: Poland's Foreign Minister: Radoslaw Sikorski...urging the UK to "come back to the fold". . (January 2026)

Hungary: Péter Magyar, who defeated Viktor Orban in a stunning result overnight, said he 'hoped' the UK would become a (EU) member state again. (April 2026)

I can go on...

Let's at least be factual

Individual politicians saying that they personally think the UK should rejoin, is not the same thing as saying that a country would vote to allow the UK back in.

As you stated, it is a negotiation; I don't see what's unreasonable for the MS to not commit to accepting a position before a negotiation has been concluded; as you said, it weakens the EU MSs hand in the negotiation.

What specific law(s)?

I had a (brief) AI check, & cannot find any such reference, prevention on EU MSs government, politicians to speak in favour of a country joining.

Pre-2007 EU enlargement to Romania & Bulgaria, Ireland officially backed enlargement via official government memos from 2006 onwards...genuinely interested

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By (user no longer on site)
3 weeks ago

I would vote to be part of the EU again. I voted remain.

I've not seen any positives.

(Other than getting a lower Trump tariff when he was annoyed at Europe)

Losing freedom of movement, and with it the right to work in any EU country is probably a reason so many young people would rather be in.

I just get frustrated that it makes so much paperwork and tax when I want to move things from EU to UK.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
3 weeks ago

Gilfach

"What specific law(s)"

The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) articles 2.1 and 3. For general searches the phrase to look for is "exclusive competence".

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By *ingdomNightTimePleasuresMan
2 weeks ago

nearby

If the papers are to be believed and Burnham wins the bye election, challenges Starmer and is successful. He may appoint net zero Milliband as chancellor, and David Milliband today saying we need to revisit rejoining the European Union.

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By *iman2100Man
2 weeks ago

Glasgow

In 2005 the UK GDP was 4th in the world at 2,546 USD billion whilst Germany was 3rd with 2,895 USD billion.

In 2025 the UK is 5th at 4,003 USD billion and Germany is 5,048 USD billion.

So we used to be 349 usd billion behind Germany and now are 1,045 behind them. Brexit was meant to better the British economy by freeing it from the shackles of the EU. I am still waiting to see that.

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By *ostindreamsMan
2 weeks ago

London

In 2005 the UK GDP was 4th in the world at 2,546 USD billion whilst Germany was 3rd with 2,895 USD billion.

In 2025 the UK is 5th at 4,003 USD billion and Germany is 5,048 USD billion.

Brexit came into effect in 2020. Not sure what you are getting by comparing the economic situation in 2005 with today. UK was much more reliant on financial industries compared to Germany.- An industry that was hit badly by the recession compared to the rest. That's the reason why UK fell behind.

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By *hrill CollinsMan
2 weeks ago

The Outer Rim

In 2005 the UK GDP was 4th in the world at 2,546 USD billion whilst Germany was 3rd with 2,895 USD billion.

In 2025 the UK is 5th at 4,003 USD billion and Germany is 5,048 USD billion.

as are the majority

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
2 weeks ago

Gilfach

"Brexit was meant to better the British economy by freeing it from the shackles of the EU. I am still waiting to see that."

You'll be waiting for a good while as all of the governments in power since then have wanted to go back in at some point in the future, so they've not done anything that could endanger that.

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By *eroy1000Man
2 weeks ago

milton keynes

"Brexit was meant to better the British economy by freeing it from the shackles of the EU. I am still waiting to see that.

You'll be waiting for a good while as all of the governments in power since then have wanted to go back in at some point in the future, so they've not done anything that could endanger that."

Rachel Reeves who is very anti Brexit has recently reduced tarriffs on certain imports to help with the cost of living. This would not have been possible while in the EU so an anti Brexit chancellor using a Brexit freedom

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By *oeWilliams321Man
2 weeks ago

irvinestown

UK can vote all they want but it's not the UK that has the ability to choose. The EU holds the cards. Just my opinion, plenty of others available.

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By *coptoCouple
2 weeks ago

Côte d'Azur & Great Yarmouth

"the EU made it clear any new or rejoining members must sign up for full membership, euro, foreign service (incl. ambitions for single armed forces command structure) and no UK rebate"

"MADE IT CLEAR"?

Where can I read this garbage about single armed forces command structure? Big difference between co-ordinated procurement, standardised equipment and joint operations - which in any case happen daily AND in which UK personnel and equipment have always participated and always will - and, for example, a German Officer trying to relay orders to an Italian or Portuguese squaddie... material for a comedy sketch!

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By *ust RachelTV/TS
2 weeks ago

Crawley Down

"There is more likely to be a steady realignment to the EU through EEA.

At that point a government with enough of a majority could take us back fully under a banner of agreeing with both sides.

We agree it is stupid to be paying in and not being able to vote on laws, lets rejoin and remove that issue.

We would be able to give most of the illegal immigrants back to europe, if we were still in the EU.

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By *ermbiMan
1 week ago

Ballyshannon

"I would vote to be part of the EU again. I voted remain.

I've not seen any positives.

(Other than getting a lower Trump tariff when he was annoyed at Europe)

Losing freedom of movement, and with it the right to work in any EU country is probably a reason so many young people would rather be in.

I just get frustrated that it makes so much paperwork and tax when I want to move things from EU to UK.

The statement re getting a lower Trump rate is a generalisation. Lower in the sense of comparable markets to the UK. Cant compare likd with like here as the EU is a vastly bigger market.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
1 week ago

Gilfach

"We would be able to give most of the illegal immigrants back to europe, if we were still in the EU."

No we wouldn't.

The Dublin Agreements only allowed us to return those immigrants that had already applied in another EU country, and had been rejected there. Of course other EU countries had the right to return claimants to us if they had started here and then moved on to an EU country.

We never returned more than 2,500 people in any year, and in every year it operated we had more people returned to us than we sent out.

And of course any asylum seeker that applied in the EU and was successful, could then just walk into the UK legally under Freedom of Movement.

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By *amish SMan
1 week ago

Eastleigh

I'd vote no again unless the EU changed its voting rules to a majority from the stupid unanimous voting it has now. Hungary and Slovakia are good examples why we should stay away from the EU, they voted purely on greed and to appease their Russian masters.

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By *hirleyMan
1 week ago

Wine bar

"I voted Remain originally. Having now read up and researched the EU thoroughly, I'd vote to remain out of it. A truly wretched organisation. That Walter Hallstein, the first EU commissioner had fought for Germany in WW2 for the Wehrmacht is telling.

I don't despise farage, but I do think he's a snake oil salesman and wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. Could say I'm middle class too, with a slight bug about the increased travel difficulty.

I voted leave though, and I'd still vote leave every single day of the week. The EU is a neoliberalist organisation, and I have never felt that it benefited anyone to have a single currency or centralised government with no direct democratic process to change it.

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By *estivalMan
1 week ago

borehamwood

"I'd vote no again unless the EU changed its voting rules to a majority from the stupid unanimous voting it has now. Hungary and Slovakia are good examples why we should stay away from the EU, they voted purely on greed and to appease their Russian masters."
ir they voted for what is best for there countrys like every countrys leaders should do

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By *eroy1000Man
1 week ago

milton keynes

"I would vote to be part of the EU again. I voted remain.

I've not seen any positives.

(Other than getting a lower Trump tariff when he was annoyed at Europe)

Losing freedom of movement, and with it the right to work in any EU country is probably a reason so many young people would rather be in.

I just get frustrated that it makes so much paperwork and tax when I want to move things from EU to UK.

The statement re getting a lower Trump rate is a generalisation. Lower in the sense of comparable markets to the UK. Cant compare likd with like here as the EU is a vastly bigger market."

So the larger the market the worse the deal then. We was told the opposite before

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By *ermbiMan
1 week ago

Ballyshannon

"I would vote to be part of the EU again. I voted remain.

I've not seen any positives.

(Other than getting a lower Trump tariff when he was annoyed at Europe)

Losing freedom of movement, and with it the right to work in any EU country is probably a reason so many young people would rather be in.

I just get frustrated that it makes so much paperwork and tax when I want to move things from EU to UK.

The statement re getting a lower Trump rate is a generalisation. Lower in the sense of comparable markets to the UK. Cant compare likd with like here as the EU is a vastly bigger market.

So the larger the market the worse the deal then. We was told the opposite before "

No you are missing the point

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By *hrill CollinsMan
1 week ago

The Outer Rim

Sandro Gozi has confirmed that the UK will be fast tracked when we rejoin the EU

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By *estivalMan
1 week ago

borehamwood

"Sandro Gozi has confirmed that the UK will be fast tracked when we rejoin the EU

"
hiw can tgey sat that? Doesn't every country in the eu have to agree and while reform are polling as well as they are i cant imagine mist countrys wanting us anywhere near the eu

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
1 week ago

Gilfach

"Sandro Gozi has confirmed that the UK will be fast tracked when we rejoin the EU"

No he hasn't. He said that the entry process was likely to be faster for the UK, as we've previously been a member and there is already a lot of regulatory alignment.

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By *hrill CollinsMan
1 week ago

The Outer Rim

"Sandro Gozi has confirmed that the UK will be fast tracked when we rejoin the EU

No he hasn't. He said that the entry process was likely to be faster for the UK, as we've previously been a member and there is already a lot of regulatory alignment."

yes he has, stop lying to push your agenda

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
1 week ago

Gilfach

"Sandro Gozi has confirmed that the UK will be fast tracked when we rejoin the EU"

"No he hasn't. He said that the entry process was likely to be faster for the UK, as we've previously been a member and there is already a lot of regulatory alignment."

"yes he has, stop lying to push your agenda"

Okey dokey then, give us a link to a reputable news site which backs up your version of events.

I'll start. Here's MSN saying "Gozi said UK re-entry could be quicker than other candidates due to institutional memory and existing legal alignment". https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/insight/eu-official-says-uk-must-adopt-euro-to-rejoin-bloc/gm-GMDE4F3060

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By *hrill CollinsMan
1 week ago

The Outer Rim

"Sandro Gozi has confirmed that the UK will be fast tracked when we rejoin the EU

No he hasn't. He said that the entry process was likely to be faster for the UK, as we've previously been a member and there is already a lot of regulatory alignment.

yes he has, stop lying to push your agenda

Okey dokey then, give us a link to a reputable news site which backs up your version of events.

If you're going to start introducing quotes from conspiracy theory websites , you can pretend that anything has been said by the EU.

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By *issy_sub_01TV/TS
1 week ago

manchester (malaga)

Id vote to rejoin but I've got no appetite to go through all that again. Living on the Costa del Sol, the amount of insane/inane opinions that people came out with was outrageous.

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By *obbiehMan
1 week ago

chester

And surprise surprise, the ones wishing us to rejoin are lying to us as well.

It will be we have to join the Euro currency and completely surrender our borders.

The great ethnic cleansing of our country will gather pace as well, an EU willing on a demographic change on a truly massive scale.

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By *oufouCouple
1 week ago

Somerset

All these abstract ideas about UK ranking, etc are fairly irrelevant to most of us.

Instead, I would genuinely love to hear from a Leaver how the quality of their life has improved due to Brexit. I sincerely doubt they could name a single thing, except maybe that huge pile of sovereignty in the garage.

We have less choice in the supermarket, more illegal immigration, and excessive red tape for UK exporters. I could go on… but household benefits? Not so much!

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By *m3232Man
1 week ago

maidenhead

"All these abstract ideas about UK ranking, etc are fairly irrelevant to most of us.

We have less choice in the supermarket, more illegal immigration, and excessive red tape for UK exporters. I could go on… but household benefits? Not so much!

My life hasn’t changed and everything gets more expensive.

The change now is not important the change in the future when the eu fails is the point where it was all worth it.

Immigration is all the pre governments corrupt policies no question.

Restore is our only hope of saving the Uk.

Those who don’t see what’s coming are part of the problem.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
1 week ago

Gilfach

"Sandro Gozi has confirmed that the UK will be fast tracked when we rejoin the EU"

"No he hasn't. He said that the entry process was likely to be faster for the UK, as we've previously been a member and there is already a lot of regulatory alignment."

"yes he has, stop lying to push your agenda"

"Okey dokey then, give us a link to a reputable news site which backs up your version of events.

"If you're going to start introducing quotes from conspiracy theory websites , you can pretend that anything has been said by the EU."

I don't normally read MSN so I had no idea it was a "conspiracy theory website". It was the only site I could find that mentioned Sandro Gozi.

But how about you provide a link to show everyone just how wrong I am.

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By *oufouCouple
1 week ago

Somerset

"All these abstract ideas about UK ranking, etc are fairly irrelevant to most of us.

We have less choice in the supermarket, more illegal immigration, and excessive red tape for UK exporters. I could go on… but household benefits? Not so much!

My life hasn’t changed and everything gets more expensive.

The change now is not important the change in the future when the eu fails is the point where it was all worth it.

Immigration is all the pre governments corrupt policies no question.

Restore is our only hope of saving the Uk.

Those who don’t see what’s coming are part of the problem. "

I suppose that 60% of the UK is part of the problem then… 😂

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By *erry 58Man
1 week ago

doncaster

The EU has been milking the UK for years and still are , if we do happen to rejoin , I can’t see any improvements to the UK

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By *ockle77Man
1 week ago

somewhere only we know

If we had a strong government with the stomach to actually want to leave the EU things would of been beneficial to us , but alas it’s been sabotaged by pro EU politicians and their softly softly bend over backwards approach.

But what did we expect sod what the minions want they’ll do as they’re told by their paymasters

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By *ermbiMan
1 week ago

Ballyshannon

"If we had a strong government with the stomach to actually want to leave the EU things would of been beneficial to us , but alas it’s been sabotaged by pro EU politicians and their softly softly bend over backwards approach.

But what did we expect sod what the minions want they’ll do as they’re told by their paymasters "

Tell us what you reckon would be beneficial if stronger governments in place. Lets leave aside the nonsence of controlling borders, finance and sovereignty.

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By *ingdomNightTimePleasuresMan
1 week ago

nearby

But what did we expect sod what the minions want they’ll do as they’re told by their paymasters "

Brexit was cunted from the beginning.

Pro Brexit Tory negotiators tried to get a ‘deal’ whatever that was supposed to be. Thick as mince Voters sold a pup.

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By *ingdomNightTimePleasuresMan
1 week ago

nearby

"The EU has been milking the UK for years and still are , if we do happen to rejoin , I can’t see any improvements to the UK"

In or out no better I agree.

Pro Brexit Jacob Rees Mogg says it will be decades to see any benefits of leaving.

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By *ermbiMan
1 week ago

Ballyshannon

"The EU has been milking the UK for years and still are , if we do happen to rejoin , I can’t see any improvements to the UK

In or out no better I agree.

Pro Brexit Jacob Rees Mogg says it will be decades to see any benefits of leaving. "

Well he had to say something knowing the nonsense that was being spouted

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By *issy_sub_01TV/TS
1 week ago

manchester (malaga)

But what did we expect sod what the minions want they’ll do as they’re told by their paymasters "

But we did leave the EU. What did governments do that was bending over backwards?

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

But what did we expect sod what the minions want they’ll do as they’re told by their paymasters

But we did leave the EU. What did governments do that was bending over backwards?"

We still haven't removed any of the nonsensical regulations that we got through EU. No one should still have to click on those lame cookie consent pop ups which show up on every website you visit.

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By *londebiguyMan
1 week ago

Southport

I'm certain that the result would be very different this time.

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By *issy_sub_01TV/TS
1 week ago

manchester (malaga)

But what did we expect sod what the minions want they’ll do as they’re told by their paymasters

But we did leave the EU. What did governments do that was bending over backwards?

We still haven't removed any of the nonsensical regulations that we got through EU. No one should still have to click on those lame cookie consent pop ups which show up on every website you visit. "

Really? Keeping some privacy laws that mean well but are a bit outdated was the best example of how the Brexit dream was sabotaged by pro EU politicians bending over backwards to do what their paymasters say?

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

But what did we expect sod what the minions want they’ll do as they’re told by their paymasters

But we did leave the EU. What did governments do that was bending over backwards?

We still haven't removed any of the nonsensical regulations that we got through EU. No one should still have to click on those lame cookie consent pop ups which show up on every website you visit.

That was just one example. And it's not outdated. It was a stupid idea to begin with. Passing these lame regulations is the reason why the EU fell behind in the tech boom and took down UK along with it. They have already passed the AI act to ensure that any European's dreams to compete in the AI boom are killed too.

Read Mario Draghi's report on EU's competitiveness. UK hasn't really removed much of the regulatory red tapes which came down from the EU.

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By *adBod_76Man
1 week ago

Witham

But what did we expect sod what the minions want they’ll do as they’re told by their paymasters

But we did leave the EU. What did governments do that was bending over backwards?

We still haven't removed any of the nonsensical regulations that we got through EU. No one should still have to click on those lame cookie consent pop ups which show up on every website you visit. "

So let me get this straight, of all the things you could have chosen to illustrate your point, you've gone with accepting cookies on websites? That's really your best example of the government bending over backwards to accommodate the EU? You understand that other people can read what you're typing, right?

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

But what did we expect sod what the minions want they’ll do as they’re told by their paymasters

But we did leave the EU. What did governments do that was bending over backwards?

We still haven't removed any of the nonsensical regulations that we got through EU. No one should still have to click on those lame cookie consent pop ups which show up on every website you visit.

Why is that example bad? It's one of the clear cases of the EU over regulating and unnecessarily costing money and time for the businesses and people. Considering that it has been 5 years since Brexit has been done, I would have expected the government to throw that regulation into trash. But the fact that they haven't even done that shows there isn't much motivation to do it for any other regulations either.

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By *adBod_76Man
1 week ago

Witham

But what did we expect sod what the minions want they’ll do as they’re told by their paymasters

But we did leave the EU. What did governments do that was bending over backwards?

We still haven't removed any of the nonsensical regulations that we got through EU. No one should still have to click on those lame cookie consent pop ups which show up on every website you visit.

Instead we have our own regulations to deal with such things. It's almost as if a person's privacy is a good thing.

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

But what did we expect sod what the minions want they’ll do as they’re told by their paymasters

But we did leave the EU. What did governments do that was bending over backwards?

We still haven't removed any of the nonsensical regulations that we got through EU. No one should still have to click on those lame cookie consent pop ups which show up on every website you visit.

Instead we have our own regulations to deal with such things. It's almost as if a person's privacy is a good thing."

I am sorry to break this to you. Those cookie banners you click on every website you visit do fuck all to help with your privacy.

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By *issy_sub_01TV/TS
1 week ago

manchester (malaga)

But what did we expect sod what the minions want they’ll do as they’re told by their paymasters

But we did leave the EU. What did governments do that was bending over backwards?

We still haven't removed any of the nonsensical regulations that we got through EU. No one should still have to click on those lame cookie consent pop ups which show up on every website you visit.

Even if it's true and it's over regulating, it's something that was brought in pre-Brexit and so something that the UK had a part in designing.

The government could have thrown it in the trash, but UK companies still would need to comply with EU regulations, so there would needed to have been *something* else in place, that probably looked pretty similar to what the EU already had implemented.

If you genuinely think this is a good example of proEU politicians bending over backwards and sabotaging a glorious Brexit, you're really clutching at straws.

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

Even if it's true and it's over regulating, it's something that was brought in pre-Brexit and so something that the UK had a part in designing.

So? At this point, pretty much everyone in tech knows how lame and stupid the regulation is. There is no reason to hold on to it.

There are numerous websites for local businesses that don't need to work on the EU. And it's not just about the businesses. It's also about people wasting time every day clicking on these meaningless prompts.

If you genuinely think this is a good example of proEU politicians bending over backwards and sabotaging a glorious Brexit, you're really clutching at straws."

This is a clear cut example of an idiotic regulation written by the EU bureaucrats which should have been trashed the moment we got out of EU. And it is also an easy regulation to be trashed. We haven't done it for 5 years. It shows that the politicians have no motivation to do it. If you are so much biased that you will just ignore such cleat evidence, I can't help you.

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By *issy_sub_01TV/TS
1 week ago

manchester (malaga)

Okay you're right.

We have one example of pro EU politicians 'sabotaging' the great Brexit project by forcing users to click a mildly inconvenient check box, with the aim of protecting consumers privacy.

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

"Okay you're right.

We have one example of pro EU politicians 'sabotaging' the great Brexit project by forcing users to click a mildly inconvenient check box, with the aim of protecting consumers privacy. "

Again, if you are biased to this extent. No explanation is going to change your mind. Many British politicians still believe we will get back into the EU. So there is so much inertia against changing the regulations which came from them.

And no. It's not a mild inconvenience. Regulations like these are what fucked up the European companies and helped prop up American companies to expand their monopolies in Europe.

And no. The EU bureaucrats don't give a fuck about your privacy either. It's a populist move to pretend like they were fighting "those evil American corporations" while in reality they only screwed over the Europeans. If those bureaucrats really cared about privacy, the commission wouldn't be trying so hard to pass the chat control legislation.

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By *adBod_76Man
1 week ago

Witham

"Okay you're right.

We have one example of pro EU politicians 'sabotaging' the great Brexit project by forcing users to click a mildly inconvenient check box, with the aim of protecting consumers privacy.

And no. It's not a mild inconvenience. Regulations like these are what fucked up the European companies and helped prop up American companies to expand their monopolies in Europe.

Do you think that things like the DUAA and PECR only occur in the UK and EU?

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

"Okay you're right.

We have one example of pro EU politicians 'sabotaging' the great Brexit project by forcing users to click a mildly inconvenient check box, with the aim of protecting consumers privacy.

And no. It's not a mild inconvenience. Regulations like these are what fucked up the European companies and helped prop up American companies to expand their monopolies in Europe.

Do you think that things like the DUAA and PECR only occur in the UK and EU?"

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
1 week ago

Gilfach

"Instead we have our own regulations to deal with such things. It's almost as if a person's privacy is a good thing."

If either the EU or the UK government were actually concerned with privacy, they would simply have banned third party cookies. They serve no useful purpose.

But instead they gave us the cookie consent pop-up, which doesn't stop the privacy concerns, but instead makes it look like something has been done.

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

"Instead we have our own regulations to deal with such things. It's almost as if a person's privacy is a good thing.

If either the EU or the UK government were actually concerned with privacy, they would simply have banned third party cookies. They serve no useful purpose.

But instead they gave us the cookie consent pop-up, which doesn't stop the privacy concerns, but instead makes it look like something has been done."

Pretty much every browser today has an option to turn off the third party cookies too. So they don't even have to ban it. People have control over it.

And I actually tried to reject cookies in some websites randomly and checked if it really worked. Most of the websites did not respect my choice at all. The cookie consent pop-ups were there just for name sake.

The ePrivacy Directive also expects companies to have options to control first party cookies depending on the "purpose" it's used for. Technologies to detect purposes for which data is used for are still nascent and very expensive. You can guarantee that no company is actually doing it properly.

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By *hrill CollinsMan
1 week ago

The Outer Rim

jeez ... is this what people really caused all this utter shitshow by leaving for? to force peoples privacy round the ubend by demanding that they have everyones hard drives rammed full of garbage cookies from bussinesses intruding on the private lives with spyware.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
1 week ago

Gilfach

"jeez ... is this what people really caused all this utter shitshow by leaving for? to force peoples privacy round the ubend by demanding that they have everyones hard drives rammed full of garbage cookies from bussinesses intruding on the private lives with spyware."

We've already said that if any government actually cared about privacy they would just ban third party cookies. The ones that insist on cookie pop-ups with no enforcement are just pretending to care.

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By *ermbiMan
1 week ago

Ballyshannon

And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit...

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit..."

Did you read the thread before making this post or did you not?

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By *ingdomNightTimePleasuresMan
1 week ago

nearby

Waiting for one of the party’s to offer a rejoin referendum in their manifesto

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
1 week ago

Gilfach

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit..."

You're still waiting because every time someone presents one you dismiss it as unimportant, or outweighed by something else, or just not a real benefit. If you refuse to listen you won't hear anything.

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By *ermbiMan
1 week ago

Ballyshannon

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit...

Did you read the thread before making this post or did you not?"

Oh yea read it but still waiting on a benefit

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By *ermbiMan
1 week ago

Ballyshannon

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit...

Go for it. Give a list of benefits

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit...

Did you read the thread before making this post or did you not?

Oh yea read it but still waiting on a benefit"

You clearly haven't read. To start with, you can check Leroy's post about reducing import Tariffs

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By *ermbiMan
1 week ago

Ballyshannon

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit...

Did you read the thread before making this post or did you not?

Oh yea read it but still waiting on a benefit

You clearly haven't read. To start with, you can check Leroy's post about reducing import Tariffs "

I clearly have read. The problem there is that 10% tariff is not actually 10%. The 10% was on top of whatever most favoured nation rate that was already in place for particular goods. Say a particular product had a MFN rate of 8% then 10% was added on top making the rate 18%. The EU negotiated 15% as a ceiling on products. Thats where confusion lies and not a Brexit benefit as so often incorrectly assumed

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit...

Did you read the thread before making this post or did you not?

Oh yea read it but still waiting on a benefit

You clearly haven't read. To start with, you can check Leroy's post about reducing import Tariffs

You are making shit up here

Looks like you have no clue about how MFN works and MFN has no impact on the tariff changes that Rachel Reeves is bringing, something she wouldn't be able to do if we were in the EU.

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By *ermbiMan
1 week ago

Ballyshannon

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit...

Did you read the thread before making this post or did you not?

Oh yea read it but still waiting on a benefit

You clearly haven't read. To start with, you can check Leroy's post about reducing import Tariffs

You are making shit up here

Looks like you have no clue about how MFN works and MFN has no impact on the tariff changes that Rachel Reeves is bringing, something she wouldn't be able to do if we were in the EU."

Its not shit as u describe it. Maybe u havent read into the uk-us trade deal

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
1 week ago

Gilfach

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit..."

"You're still waiting because every time someone presents one you dismiss it as unimportant, or outweighed by something else, or just not a real benefit. If you refuse to listen you won't hear anything."

"Go for it. Give a list of benefits"

I'll start with a simple one - the tampon tax. The UK had been pushing the EU to allow female sanitary products to be zero rated for VAT for years but it wasn't going anywhere. The very first piece of legislation after Brexit, on day one, was the abolition of the tampon tax. That wasn't possible whilst we were in the EU. A Brexit benefit.

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By *ingdomNightTimePleasuresMan
1 week ago

nearby

‘ On the UK's relationship with the European Union, Sir Tony Blair said "Britain has lost from Brexit" and "at some point it is ripe to enter a debate about 'going back'."

Sir Tony said: "Just as Brexit was never the answer to Britain's challenges back in 2016, reversing it isn't the answer to the country's far worse situation in 2026." ‘

( guardian today - Blair’s damming criticism of Labour)

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By *adBod_76Man
1 week ago

Witham

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit...

Go for it. Give a list of benefits

Do you know, you're right - credit for that. Three months after Brexit the EU changed the VAT directive, allowing members to zero rate sanitary products. I think only Ireland have done so, but most have reduced it.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
1 week ago

Gilfach

"I'll start with a simple one - the tampon tax. The UK had been pushing the EU to allow female sanitary products to be zero rated for VAT for years but it wasn't going anywhere. The very first piece of legislation after Brexit, on day one, was the abolition of the tampon tax. That wasn't possible whilst we were in the EU. A Brexit benefit."

"Do you know, you're right - credit for that. Three months after Brexit the EU changed the VAT directive, allowing members to zero rate sanitary products. I think only Ireland have done so, but most have reduced it."

There months after Brexit the EU allowed a reduction in VAT on sanitary products, but not to zero. It took another 18 months before they finally allowed zero rating. Ireland got there early because of a complex grandfathering rule.

It does seem strange that the legislation had been in process for 4 years and had got nowhere at all. Then the UK left and made a fuss about implementing it, and suddenly the EU was able to pass a half measure within months, and the full thing in less than 2 years. I wonder what made them suddenly speed up.

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By *eroy1000Man
1 week ago

milton keynes

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit...

Did you read the thread before making this post or did you not?

Oh yea read it but still waiting on a benefit

You clearly haven't read. To start with, you can check Leroy's post about reducing import Tariffs

You are making shit up here

Looks like you have no clue about how MFN works and MFN has no impact on the tariff changes that Rachel Reeves is bringing, something she wouldn't be able to do if we were in the EU."

For clarity I think people are mixing up 2 of my previous posts as I have separately mentioned the 10% export tariff and the latest Rachel Reeves import tariff reduction. As far as I know Rachel Reeves would not have been able to reduce tariffs on imports on her own had we been in the EU.

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit...

Did you read the thread before making this post or did you not?

Oh yea read it but still waiting on a benefit

You clearly haven't read. To start with, you can check Leroy's post about reducing import Tariffs

You are making shit up here

Looks like you have no clue about how MFN works and MFN has no impact on the tariff changes that Rachel Reeves is bringing, something she wouldn't be able to do if we were in the EU.

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By *deepdiveMan
1 week ago

Canterbury and France (26)

"And we are still waiting to hear of a Brexit benefit...

Did you read the thread before making this post or did you not?

Oh yea read it but still waiting on a benefit

You clearly haven't read. To start with, you can check Leroy's post about reducing import Tariffs

You are making shit up here

Looks like you have no clue about how MFN works and MFN has no impact on the tariff changes that Rachel Reeves is bringing, something she wouldn't be able to do if we were in the EU.

Glad we clarified that then.

Good to see that there are Brexit benifits after all however; if it was such a good decision, would we not be awaeh with them (benifits) rather than having to search the small print to find minutiae which are arguably pretty minimal and which, had we stayed in the EU, would have probably happened one way or the other anyway.

One Brexit benifit which is not often touted is the fact that it has opened up discussions like this and forums across the country along with people spending their time searching for them. That is surely a good benifit as it keeps the grey matter occupied!

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

There have been other benefits mentioned above. But then people just shove them aside claiming that "they are just small benefits" and then keep asking for the list of benefits again.

End of the day, Brexit gives us sovereignty and control over the state of affairs of this country. Its success obviously depends on how we use that power. So far, the politicians have taken advantage of it only on a few occasions which begs the question of why the politicians have so much inertia against making changes to the regulations we received from EU.

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By *adBod_76Man
1 week ago

Witham

There have been other benefits mentioned above. But then people just shove them aside claiming that "they are just small benefits" and then keep asking for the list of benefits again.

Because they were mainly pretty good ideas?

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

There have been other benefits mentioned above. But then people just shove them aside claiming that "they are just small benefits" and then keep asking for the list of benefits again.

Because they were mainly pretty good ideas?"

Like the cookie consent prompts?

If they were mainly pretty good ideas, Europe wouldn't have fallen behind US and Asia by so much. Their economy is still on track to get much worse. Mario Draghi's report on EU competitiveness was quite damning and was also correct. Sadly, I haven't seen the EU change its course even though they acknowledged that the report was correct.

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By *ananabrumMan
1 week ago

castle bromwich

Still vote out we'll never give up sterling and i guarantee a condition of rejoining would be to adopt the euro

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By *ikerabbits!Couple
1 week ago

Surrey

Regardless which way people voted in the referendum the fact is Brexit failed to deliver on the promises made by those who sold it to the electorate. There’s a lot of blah blah about being sold out, the nasty EU negotiating tactics, UK politicians failing to deliver the ‘sunny uplands’, Brexit not being done properly….on and on. All excuses. None of this was mentioned prior to the referendum. It was quite the opposite. It was going to be “easiest trade deal in history”, “they will need us more than we need them”, “other EU countries will follow our lead”. No EU fanboy here but if a country is voluntarily going to make it exponentially more difficult for itself to trade with its closest neighbours then at least have a decent post- EU membership plan in place!

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
1 week ago

Gilfach

"Regardless which way people voted in the referendum the fact is Brexit failed to deliver on the promises made by those who sold it to the electorate. There’s a lot of blah blah about being sold out, the nasty EU negotiating tactics, UK politicians failing to deliver the ‘sunny uplands’, Brexit not being done properly…"

Many of those promises were made by UKIP, who didn't subsequently get voted in to power. You can't blame them for failing on their promises if they haven't been given a chance to try.

"None of this was mentioned prior to the referendum. It was quite the opposite. It was going to be “easiest trade deal in history”, “they will need us more than we need them” ..."

It was the easiest trade deal ever. We announced that we were going to leave, and a deal was struck such that we continued trading without any extra tariffs or quotas. Certainly the fastest trade deal the EU has ever made.

"No EU fanboy here but if a country is voluntarily going to make it exponentially more difficult for itself to trade with its closest neighbours ..."

Trade isn't 'exponentially more difficult'. Yes, there's more paperwork and compliance to go through, but it's a relatively small increase, not an exponential one.

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By *ikerabbits!Couple
1 week ago

Surrey

Many of those promises were made by UKIP, who didn't subsequently get voted in to power. You can't blame them for failing on their promises if they haven't been given a chance to try.

Farage backed Johnson’s TCA with the EU in 2020. That suggests to me that had Farage been PM at that time he would have been happy to sign off on the same agreement.

None of this was mentioned prior to the referendum. It was quite the opposite. It was going to be “easiest trade deal in history”, “they will need us more than we need them” ...

Result…between 4% and 8% knocked off GDP. The UK sold itself short and every single other bipartisan trade agreement signed since Brexit has not made up for the loss of trade with the EU.

No EU fanboy here but if a country is voluntarily going to make it exponentially more difficult for itself to trade with its closest neighbours ...

Trade isn't 'exponentially more difficult'. Yes, there's more paperwork and compliance to go through, but it's a relatively small increase, not an exponential one."

I’ll concede on that one but wasn’t Brexit supposed to reduce trade related paperwork and bureaucratic hurdles like more paperwork and compliance?

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By *eroy1000Man
1 week ago

milton keynes

There have been other benefits mentioned above. But then people just shove them aside claiming that "they are just small benefits" and then keep asking for the list of benefits again.

I think these have been mentioned on past threads but as a reminder below is a few changes (copy and pasted a few from different topics) since Brexit:

Customs Revenue: 100% of customs revenue goes to HMRC rather than to EU coffers.

Points-Based System: Ended free movement, allowing the UK to implement a skills-based, nationality-agnostic immigration system, prioritizing workers based on specific skills needed.

Gene Editing/AI: Capability to adopt more flexible regulations for gene-edited crops and AI, aiming to become an AI superpower faster than EU restrictions allow.

Live Animal Exports: Banned the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening.

How much the above examples are realised is in the hands of politicians

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By *mileyculturebelfastMan
1 week ago

belfast

"Referendum based on falsehoods. No referendum commission to give a balanced view. Politicians were sensationalist.

Sure youre in the eu. Bre it is fuck all to do with you. It was a British thing. Youre irish.

No one alive now will see a united ireland. The sectarian relu lican movement has ensured that.

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By *mileyculturebelfastMan
1 week ago

belfast

See if the eu was so good and strong, why were they so against us leaving?

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By *ussexcouple40Couple
1 week ago

Sussex

"I don't know anyone that has changed their minds on how they originally voted."

That may well be true. BUT. A lot of the people who voted leave have popped their clogs and a lot of youngsters can now vote. The demographic of the uk has changed a lot in the last 10 years.

Personaly. We both voted to remain. If there was a new referendum (there won't be) we would vote to NOT rejoin. We made our bed, let's Crack on with it.

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By *ookingFor.....Man
1 week ago

Horsham/Crawley

I've got a set of the leaflets from the 1975 Referendum kicking around somewhere, and the problems and issues highlighted are no nearer being solved than they were fifty years ago.

I voted "out" ten years ago, and would do so again every day of the week. "

I’d vote leave again as well.

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By *ulie.your. bottom. slutTV/TS
1 week ago

Near Glasgow

"See if the eu was so good and strong, why were they so against us leaving?

Same could be said for the Scottish Independence referendum. If we are such a drain on the U.K coffers , why was every party except the SNP, against us leaving.

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By *hrill CollinsMan
1 week ago

The Outer Rim

and still waiting to hear what the benefits of brexit are

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
1 week ago

Gilfach

"and still waiting to hear what the benefits of brexit are"

And there's another one.

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By *hrill CollinsMan
1 week ago

The Outer Rim

"and still waiting to hear what the benefits of brexit are

And there's another one."

sounds like yet another of your personal attacks.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
1 week ago

Gilfach

"and still waiting to hear what the benefits of brexit are"

"And there's another one."

"sounds like yet another of your personal attacks."

I don't make personal attacks. My statement was referring to an earlier discussion in this thread about people that come into Brexit discussions and claim that they've never heard of a single Brexit benefit.

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By *abioMan
1 week ago

Newcastle and Gateshead

"The EU has been milking the UK for years and still are , if we do happen to rejoin , I can’t see any improvements to the UK"

We had a carve out on monetary policy

We had a carve out on defence policy

We had a carve out on Schengen

And we got a massive rebate on what we put in!!!

Places like Scotland, wales, Northern Ireland, the north east and the south west were all actually net benefactors of EU funding …

….. and we still told them to screw themselves!

Why on earth do you think they would give us those terms to go back in?

Face it… the UK are the poster children for every other EU nation even thinking of leaving.. and why not to!

Only 2 countries benefit from a weaker EU… Russia and America

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

Face it… the UK are the poster children for every other EU nation even thinking of leaving.. and why not to!

This would be true if the countries in EU are doing great. The whole world knows that's not the case.

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By *hrill CollinsMan
1 week ago

The Outer Rim

"and still waiting to hear what the benefits of brexit are

And there's another one.

sounds like yet another of your personal attacks.

no. you quoted me a responded with yet more of your personal attacks.

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By *abioMan
1 week ago

Newcastle and Gateshead

Face it… the UK are the poster children for every other EU nation even thinking of leaving.. and why not to!

This would be true if the countries in EU are doing great. The whole world knows that's not the case."

It doesn’t have to be “doing great “…… it just has to be “ doing better than them!”

They can say “doing better than them” whilst people here keep saying “long term project long term project!” Or … “well that’s not we meant!”

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

Face it… the UK are the poster children for every other EU nation even thinking of leaving.. and why not to!

This would be true if the countries in EU are doing great. The whole world knows that's not the case.

It doesn’t have to be “doing great “…… it just has to be “ doing better than them!”

They can say “doing better than them” whilst people here keep saying “long term project long term project!” Or … “well that’s not we meant!”"

By what metric is the EU doing better than UK since Brexit?

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By *hromakeyDreamcoatMan
1 week ago

Carlisle

Surely the question isn’t whether the EU is doing better than the UK, rather, would the UK be doing better if it was still in the EU?

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By *ostindreamsMan
1 week ago

London

"Surely the question isn’t whether the EU is doing better than the UK, rather, would the UK be doing better if it was still in the EU?"

You can get that data only if UK is still in the EU. So the closest we could get is to see how the countries in the EU are doing. If France and Germany aren't doing well in the EU, why do you think the UK can do better?

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By *otMe66Man
1 week ago

Here and there

"Surely the question isn’t whether the EU is doing better than the UK, rather, would the UK be doing better if it was still in the EU?"

You will never know that, unlike you will know how we are fairing being out of the Eu because that is factual.

From an economic perspective I see a little impact but nothing that I would call out as significant. However, from a social welfare perspective I can see it has created a significant impact.

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By *ikerabbits!Couple
1 week ago

Surrey

Seeing a few posts on here basically stating the EU is in poor economic and political condition. I agree with that analysis. But that doesn’t negate the fact that the UK has fared extremely poorly both economically or politically since the referendum. Five prime ministers since 2016 with another one just about to be booted out does not suggest a nation at ease or confident in itself. The economic statistics also speak for themselves. Maybe we ( so called Brexiteers and Remainers) should indulge in a little less whataboutery and shouting at each other and deal with reality as it is and choose leaders who can begin to address the serious problems this country is confronted with and who do not treat the electorate as if it has a 30 second attention span ( Labour and Restore are both currently guilty of this). It’s not going to be easy to get out of the mess we’re in but let’s at least begin with an honest assessment of how we arrived here. Only then can we begin to dig ourselves out of the hole we currently find ourselves in.

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By *eroy1000Man
1 week ago

milton keynes

"and still waiting to hear what the benefits of brexit are

And there's another one.

sounds like yet another of your personal attacks.

no. you quoted me a responded with yet more of your personal attacks. "

The other poster mentioned that despite Brexit benefits being mentioned both on past threads and this one, people ignore them and once again claim no one has come up with any. I mentioned first about the recent tariff reductions that was not possible in the EU then gave another 4 benefits on various subjects. Quick as a flash you proved the other poster was correct when you once again said you was still waiting to hear of any benefits.

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