6mo ago

5 years after Britain left the EU, the full impact of Brexit is still emerging

Summary

Five years after Brexit, its economic and political effects are still unfolding.

Trade with the EU has become more expensive and complex, with mid-sized businesses struggling the most.

UK economic growth is projected to be 4% lower long-term, and new trade deals haven’t offset EU losses.

While public opinion has turned against Brexit, rejoining the EU remains unlikely.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer aims to improve relations but won’t re-enter the single market, as both sides cautiously rebuild ties.

40 comments

It was fucking stupid then, we said it was fucking stupid then, it;s still fucking stupid. Rejoin now
- Going back to the EU with our tail between our legs isn’t going to go down well with anyone so won’t be happening anytime soon.
  We’d not be able to reject the Schengen area or Euro so I’d imagine that most remain voters wouldn’t even agree to it.
  
  Schengen would be fucking great. It also gets rid of the small boats "crisis" as well. The Euro is a small price to pay
  
  Going back to the EU with our tail between our legs isn’t going to go down well with anyone so won’t be happening anytime soon.
  "we would rather the people of the UK continue to suffer economically than be embarrassed on the international stage for a few years."
  That's is strong leadership /s
  
  While I wish it was an option but, barring some kind of catalyzing event, it isn't. Not in anyone-here's lifetime.
  
  Would suck for us to lose the pound, but it'd be worth it.
It surprised me that the royals kept their mouths shut through the whole thing. For once they could have taken a stand about something. If the Queen had gone on tv and said “we’re not doing this” it probably would have made an impact and prevented this mess. Fucking useless.
- Royal don't have much power in the UK.
  But the Queen has been known to take great care at her outfit choice, often encompassing a (not always) subtle message, like this one she wore at a time when the Parliament voted (some parts of) Brexit.
That was only 5 years ago!? Feels like several decades have passed.
- The vote happened in 2016 and the election promise that lead to it was made at some point in early 2015 or late 2014 (that election was May 2015), so yeah, Brexit has been a concept for roughly a decade at this point, and that's why it feels so long in time.
  Then there's that Euroscepticism has literally always been a thing here in some form or another on the one hand, and on the other, the prolonged agony after that very same thing bit us in the rear end once we decided to act on it.
new trade deals haven’t offset EU losses.
I’m shocked that a single state wasn’t able to negotiate better deals than that same state plus 27 others.
Trade with the EU has become more expensive and complex, with mid-sized businesses struggling the most.
That’s the thing about the tarriffs and the bureaucratic red tape. It actually benefits big buisnesses who can hire lawyers to use loopholes or pay bribes to circumvent the system, while local small and medium sized businesses suffer.
Capitalism is inherently contradictory. If there is no “red tape” then the system lets anyone do anything and everything gets fucked up because the motivator is money and not wellbeing. The more you add red tape, the more power and influence get concentrated into the few companies that have the resources to navigate it, and you end up with a semi-oligarchic system where the power and wealth resides in a few.
No country has been able to properly walk the line. Which leads me to believe capitalism is inherently unsustainable.
- I always think, capitalism is like fire.
  Left unchecked, it will burn everything down.
  But properly harnessed, it can feed, heat and transport people.
  
  How would you design a system where capitalism actually works.
  Because all major capitalist system are currently leaving a lot of people behind, in their feeding, transporting, and warming…
One small step for Europe, one giant leap backwards for Great Britain.
5, 10, 20 - yeah. The effects are emerging for the rest of everyone's lifetime. There are probably future generations who won't notice.
It's just an astounding piece of self-destruction. Much like electing trump. In many, many, very practical and concrete ways.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer aims to improve relations but won’t re-enter the single market, as both sides cautiously rebuild ties.
I get that right now feelings are still raw in Europe and the UK would get a shit deal that would probably undo the (imminently sensible) desire to forget Brexit happened, but Labour needs to be careful they don't follow the US Dems down the same path they took in never codifying abortion. It's more politically expedient to have a persistent bludgeon to use on the other party than it is to fix the mistake, but eventually there are political consequences either way.
- With respect, that's not a real thing. The "US Dems didn't codify abortion to use it as a fear tactic to drum up votes" is not a real thing in the sense that it's not a policy, a position, or the statement of any party leaders. I'm sure there are edge cases where a candidate or commentator may have used it that way.
  It's an insult that was picked up by many as a truism, but it is not true. There are several reasons why but it takes more than a couple of paragraphs to go into it.
  I don't really see the analogy between rejoining and restoring abortion-rights anyway. I think they're too different.
  
  I didn't really mean it was ever an explicit position, beyond possibly your Carville strategist types in smoke-filled rooms, but the fact remains that Roe v. Wade was always being chipped away at, in courts and statehouses and law schools, and at several points in the 50 years that it was in effect the Democrats had the power necessary to put up a legislative firewall (see, e.g. Obamacare), but they took no action while reminding voters every election who supported choice. They didn't even have to lie, but there was always a "better" use of political capital, and nothing was done until it was too late.
  Labour is in a somewhat analogous situation, in that they have taken power, and they can blame the hardships of Brexit on Tories, and they know the UK is better off in the EU, but they have other priorities. I am fully aware that they need to be prudent, and maybe repairing relationships is meaningful progress, but this could also be tickmark #1 on a ledger called "Times that Labour could have fixed Brexit but didn't."
I was visiting a friend over there for New Years and the prices, especially food stuff, are fucking robbery
Wdym 5 years....
God im old
Yeah, well I just bought an ounce of weed for £100. That means Brexit was a success, right?
- That sounds high.
  
  Cheaper than I would get it in Illinois where I used to buy weed.

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