ARMAGEDDON (NOT)

[jarndice]

What frustrates me is that we were asked in the early 70s if we wished to join the Common Market ? And we all said yes (Why not we are a trading nation after all) In 1993 the Common Market was absorbed into the European Union but we were not asked if we wanted to join the United States of Europe,
Instead we have had to endure 23 years of party political bickering,
And do you know what is so frustrating ?
If we had been asked in 1993 whether we wished to join the EU,
With it doing very nicely at the time thank you, we would probably have voted positively and all this stupidity would never have happened.
Shaun.

[wibblywobbly]

Methinks that several other countries will also now hold referendums. Sweden, Holland, France and Greece to name but a few. Norway and Greenland are no longer members.

It begs the question, how many countries have to leave before it is no longer a European Union of any significance?

Once the paperwork is completed we can buy manufacturing supplies from wherever we want, and without paying EU fixed rates, we take back our fishing grounds, so a huge industry in new trawlers etc, we can trade not only with EU countries but anyone else we want to. We might have to put a block on Fosters and BBQ's though, we don't want any of that sort of thing over here!

[FreakyDude]

can't wait to see all the messages about hindsight. The UK is just starting the uphill climb, it will be years before you get to the valley below I bet,
I wonder will the village be plundered or will it have new streets and 4% unemployment when everybody arrives

[B_Man]

There is certainly a very long and very hard road ahead and if this was the best decision only time will tell. I feel for the youth who voted overwhelmingly to stay but will now be dealing with the implications of Brexit, whatever they may be, for the rest of their lives.

What are the chances that this will result in the break up of the United Kingdom? Reports over here this morning seem to suggest Scotland is making some serious noise about another independence referendum and I haven't heard much about Northern Ireland at this stage but could this be the catalyst for them to reunite with the Republic? I get the point about Scotland's small population and income but Westminster seemed very keen to hold onto to that at the last indy vote.

Whatever happens I really hope it works out for the best. I spent three of the best years of my life in Britain and have a lot of friends over there so I will be watching on with great interest.

[jtracks]

I heard this morning (in the US) that it will take years for the Brexit to actually happen, what are your opinions on this?

[AlwynTurner]

I think it may even be more than a few years to completely disentangle everything, despite the EU saying 'hurry up and piss off...'. The problem is that we now need a new PM which will take until at least Oct/Nov to organise. Then the new PM has to pick his team and appoint a negotiation team to go to Brussels. THEN the team has to politely tell the EU that yes we will leave but on our terms because you sell more to us than we sell to you, so we aint paying any tariffs... and so it goes on. They won't even push the article 50 button until probably the end of the year if then because they know that the longer we stall, then the more uncertainty and threat builds up to the EU itself, with the possibility that other countries may be forced to follow us by their electorate.

Add to this the election in France next year followed by the elections in Germany....

This will all still be rumbling around when the next UK general election happens in 2020, and then anything could happen if the electorate here doesn't like the way this is being handled, don't forgot that the majority of MPs are for Remain and have threatened to refuse to accept the result of the referendum.

Lots of fun hey!
Alwyn

[wibblywobbly]

Well Germany has already suggested that the UK is given some sort of EU non-member status, lol. A government paper over there raised concerns about the effect on the EU if the UK left, so despite all of the rhetoric they, and most assuredly the rest of the EU, knew full well that if their bluff failed then they would be in a lot more trouble than we would.

All that they had to do was agree to renegotiate our membership terms so that we weren't being kicked in the goolies for amusement and we would have voted to stay. They quite obviously don't understand that this country has a tradition of not taking any crap from anyone, it is they that have egg on their faces, not us. They have lost a member who was making a huge contribution to their budget, they now have to figure out how to survive without that, and that means a bigger burden on those countries that remain. This will cause infighting and unrest, and while they busy themselves with that and all of the power struggles ensue, we can busy ourselves with getting on with the job.

The Scotland thing is interesting. It could work to our advantage to have a plot of land up north that is an EU member. Any free cash that they get will filter down into the England, so we would benefit too.

I've got no idea why the younger generation felt that their future was taken away from them? They have been given a future, not the other way around. They now have the opportunity to build a country the way that they want it, not the way that someone else wants it.

What we will see is a change (described by the media as a shockwave, of course) in politics, and in business management. There will be a transition from those who cannot adapt to change, to those who can. The media is headlining all of these nothing events because at this moment in time nothing has changed. Within a few months we will see the new trade deals, and the new investment, and there is no doubt that there are phone calls being made, and discussions taking place behind closed doors, to facilitate exactly that.

I have no idea why we have to wait until October to get a new Prime Minister, or why the paperwork can't go through. If he had fallen off a cliff he would have been replaced tomorrow. Is this a strategy to give the EU a chance to come back with an offer we can't refuse I wonder?

[silversurfer1947]

I think I've had enough of the minor matter of the referendum. More importantly, with commiserations to our Australian members and congratulation to the Kiwis, what about the latest rugby results?

[jtracks]

Word is a few years to exit

Yes, I would think that something this large in scale would take a while. Lots of negotiating to do.

[971wright]

Hi Don't see why the young feel they have lost out, I am old enough to remember how things were before we joined , when I left school in 1967 everyone who left that year had a job to go to or collage ,not one didn't have a job (even the collage students worked part time ) no youth un-employment less vandal's less crime less drug use. It was O.K. being in the EEC but when it changed to the EU things went from bad to worse Brussels making new rules and laws which we had to do, costs to business went up with all the red tape and paperwork.
We now have to go through 80,000 pages of rules and laws to sort out all the crap from the good , the laws we make now will be our laws which the EU cant interfere with. Don't think the French or the Germans will cause trouble because we import more German cars than export to Germany, France the airbus industry would grind to a halt if they did anything because we make the wings for all there planes. So I do think we will be fine, better than most countries out in the global market, as for trade agreements we don't need them (they are for small groups of companies like the car industry who don't give a monkeys about anyone else) If you make good stuff at the right price people will buy it that's how to make it in the global market.
We only sold 9% of our GDP to the EU , the red tape cost us 8% of GDP to implement so we will be only 1% down on GDP if the EU pulls up the drawbridge (which they wont) we can sort it .As for tariffs which people keep banging on about they are so small in the global market usually around 2,5% hardly life changing amounts its the tariffs you need trade agreements for so why bother if the amounts are small .

regards pete