Brexit and moving London forward
London voted to stay in the European Union, but the country voted to leave. The coming months will bring the start of negotiations that will steer its way forwards through a ‘Brexit’ process and beyond.
Membership of the European Union meant access to the single market - meaning no trade restrictions or tariffs and free movement of services, goods and people between the UK and member countries. What follows could therefore shape future trade, establishment, investment and possibly civic life in general in the capital.
What do you think are the key issues for the capital through this negotiation process and beyond? What are the conditions needed for London to move forward with the UK no longer part of the European Union? How can we unite to build towards a strong future for the capital?
The discussion ran from 28 June 2016 - 28 September 2016
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Log into your accountpukpuk
Community Member 7 years agoIf you don't want to live in independent UK why you don't move to EU country?
pukpuk
Community Member 7 years agoLondon voted to stay because there is 70% of Muslims here who wants to get more and more 'refugees' in.
Show full commentBritain voted leave and London is part of Britain. Shall the Queen move out if London gains independence? We are on the verge on WWIII...
London voted to stay because there is 70% of Muslims here who wants to get more and more 'refugees' in.
Show less of commentBritain voted leave and London is part of Britain. Shall the Queen move out if London gains independence? We are on the verge on WWIII, don't make domestic war instead.
Stephen James
Community Member 8 years agoIs our hand so weak that we stoop to the grubby dealings blackmail? Judging by what May stated yesterday it is difficult to see it any other way.
Show full commentIs this what we have become?
Is our hand so weak that we stoop to the grubby dealings blackmail? Judging by what May stated yesterday it is difficult to see it any other way.
Show less of commentIs this what we have become?
MatthewBaynham
Community Member 8 years agoHard Brexit means trade restrictions and tariffs. Which means businesses moving their business to the EU before it all happens.
It takes a long time to move a business. None of the business are going to wait for the negotiation.
Banks...
Show full commentHard Brexit means trade restrictions and tariffs. Which means businesses moving their business to the EU before it all happens.
It takes a long time to move a business. None of the business are going to wait for the negotiation.
Banks have to get banking licenses in one of the 27 remaining countries before they move and that takes time.
Manufacturing companies need to move an entire production line and train all their staff and it's not easy to move a production line. It'll take time for them to move.
Whatever type of business, it takes time for them to move it to a new country but they will move and take millions of jobs out of the UK economy.
The good news is at least in a few years you will be able to get a seat on the tube in middle rush hour in central London.
Show less of commentalangsmith
Community Member 8 years agoWhich businesses are 'moving' to Europe? Toyota has just announced new investment in Britain and there are many many others already committed to invest in Britain.
Show full commentBanks can easily open a branch in Ireland, for example, if they want so...
Which businesses are 'moving' to Europe? Toyota has just announced new investment in Britain and there are many many others already committed to invest in Britain.
Show less of commentBanks can easily open a branch in Ireland, for example, if they want so called 'passporting rights', which are almost certain to be given as part of the Brexit negotiations anyway, as European based businesses need the financial expertise that only London can give.
You clearly do not understand business. We have a trade deficit with the EU as a whole and any tariffs imposed, if reciprocated, would mean some £10 Billion or more additional income for Britain. The average tariff on WTO rules only amount to 3-4%!
Stephen James
Community Member 8 years agoThere is a significant and ever growing list of companies closing or planning to close their UK offices and heading for the EU or the US.
Show full commentYou quote the optimism and investment of Toyota but you fail to mention that their £200m investment...
There is a significant and ever growing list of companies closing or planning to close their UK offices and heading for the EU or the US.
Show less of commentYou quote the optimism and investment of Toyota but you fail to mention that their £200m investment was conditional on a £20m ‘bung’ from the government. The British taxpayer will pay for this. Whilst the British taxpayer is subsidizing this particular car maker to the tune of 10% it is unrealistic to expect the taxpayer to accept a significant hike in taxes to subsidize each and every other company now threatening to leave the UK.
And yet if unemployment in the car sector is not to skyrocket we might now have to. Investment commitments in the UK automotive sector last year totalled £1.66bn, just two-thirds of the £2.5bn in 2015. Toyota is in the minority.
Microsoft UK’s Owen Larter said the company was contemplating building and expanding data centres elsewhere in Europe following the vote
Goldman Sachs is working on a strategy for moving half its London workforce (3,000 jobs) to Europe and New York
HSBC's chief executive, Stuart Gulliver also said he was preparing to move 1,000 staff from London to Paris.
UBS's chief Andrea Orcel says the bank 'will definitely' have to move jobs from London
Nearly 40 per cent of US businesses with a base in the UK say they are considering moving elsewhere in the EU because of Brexit, according to a report, warning that the vote to leave could also hit trade relations between Britain and America.
The survey by international law firm Gowling WLG also found that two-thirds of the 533 US firms polled said the UK’s vote to the leave the EU was already impacting investments choices in the country.
All of the above is in the public domain. Rather that deride others you maybe better advised to read the newspapers
Talk London
Official Representative 8 years agoHi all,In response to the Government White Paper: The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union, the Mayor has released a paper entitled London’s Global and European Future. In this the Mayor responded to the twelve priorities in the government’s White Paper on Brexit, focussing on issues affecting the capital. We've summarised the main points of the Mayor's response, many of which were touched upon in the discussion above, on a new discussion thread. Do join in over there and share your views.Talk London Team
MatthewBaynham
Community Member 8 years agoMy prediction is that many businesses will move out of the UK and to main land Europe.
Politicians seam to be clueless.
There are discussions about the two year trade negotiations and this is just daft. I understand people want the trade...
Show full commentMy prediction is that many businesses will move out of the UK and to main land Europe.
Politicians seam to be clueless.
There are discussions about the two year trade negotiations and this is just daft. I understand people want the trade talks to last two years of less, because article 50 takes two years. But there is no connection between article 50 and the trade talks.
The trade talks will take as long as they take and with such large economies it is likely to take 10 years or more.
When the two years of article 50 come to an end then the UK without any trade agreement will loose out and businesses will be wise to move to the mainland of the EU.
Show less of commentalangsmith
Community Member 8 years agoWhich business's and why? The environment for business is much better in the UK than, say, France and that will remain the situation post Brexit. Trade will continue and even WTO rules mean that, because of our trade deficit with the EU, we...
Show full commentWhich business's and why? The environment for business is much better in the UK than, say, France and that will remain the situation post Brexit. Trade will continue and even WTO rules mean that, because of our trade deficit with the EU, we will earn more as a country than will the EU.
Show less of commentlivehere
Community Member 8 years agoI don't get that - surely our trade with the EU is a tiny proportion of the EU total trade. And any new trade deal with the EU is going to have to be ratified by each of the member countries. This will take a long time, years during which...
Show full commentI don't get that - surely our trade with the EU is a tiny proportion of the EU total trade. And any new trade deal with the EU is going to have to be ratified by each of the member countries. This will take a long time, years during which UK businesses will be hit by the tariffs. In some industries, where manufacturing involves goods moving to and fro between businesses in different countries, the cumulated tariffs embodied in the final products will result in very high prices. Including UK manufacturers in those processes will not be a viable proposition for many EU based companies. And what sort of concessions is the UK going to have to make to get reasonable trade deals with all the countries that have not forgotten how tough the UK was on them over their EU trade deals? Will we be putting the NHS at risk in order to get a decent trade deal with the US?
Show less of commentalangsmith
Community Member 8 years agoThe first point to make is that it is not necessary to be in the EU to 'have access to the single market'. Enough has been said on this subject, so it is about time that those wanting to remain in the EU spun a different record. The key...
Show full commentThe first point to make is that it is not necessary to be in the EU to 'have access to the single market'. Enough has been said on this subject, so it is about time that those wanting to remain in the EU spun a different record. The key issues are, firstly, 'what can be done to make London as attractive as possible to business?'. Business rates must be lowered and bureaucracy must learn to live with a much reduced income. Perhaps Mayor Khan could show us the way by taking a substantial wage cut followed by abolishing the GLA. Secondly, he must restrict access to new immigrants to the jobs market to enable wages to rise for workers already here. Posts should only be filled by foreign workers if local workers are not available (and not just at lower wages but in terms of skills). Thirdly, Mayor Kahn should be embracing Brexit and banging the drum for financial services and the City of London in the capitals of Europe and the rest of the world. In other words 'get off his backside', stop dividing Londoners by moaning about the referendum result and be positive.
Show less of commentThere are very few, if any, Remainers who genuinely believe in the 'ever closer union' leading to a European Superstate that the EU is in being to become, as no high profile member of the Remain side in the referendum debate were happy to discuss it, merely talking about trade and doom and gloom if we left, which proved to be rubbish. So if there's anyone out there who still wants Britain to once again give up its independence for being governed by an EU elite of bureaucrats that no-one can get rid of, you're wasting your time. The people won't have it.
livehere
Community Member 8 years agoAs to using local workers - our education system is so unfit for purpose that we don't produce enough skilled, intelligent local workers. The government does not want to fund a decent education system. People do not want to pay more tax...
Show full commentAs to using local workers - our education system is so unfit for purpose that we don't produce enough skilled, intelligent local workers. The government does not want to fund a decent education system. People do not want to pay more tax for funding the NHS, education, etc.
Show less of commentAnonymous - account deleted
Community Member 8 years agoDon't place barriers of ever higher Londoncentric taxes or other restictions on companies who will be the ones who make the money to pay the taxes which ultimately pay for everything. The Mayors office is a parasitic extra level of...
Show full commentDon't place barriers of ever higher Londoncentric taxes or other restictions on companies who will be the ones who make the money to pay the taxes which ultimately pay for everything. The Mayors office is a parasitic extra level of beauocracy which is superfluous & has just been created to provide very well paid 'jobs for the boys' who generally haven't got a clue about running anything properly & use their positions as stepping stones in their political careers. Life in London has deteriorated year by year over the last decade or more & I'm not saying the people in City Hall are directly responsible but they are not there to improve the lives of Londoners & simply suck out some of the financial life blood which would be so much better spent elsewhere. All it ever needed was a minister in the cabinet to be responsible for London to take any decisions which involve more than the individual boroughs. What is the point of adding more highly paid, highly pensioned layers on top of the tens of thousands of people employed in borough offices doing their jobs throughout the capital. I despair at the inefficiency of it all!
Show less of commentMatthewBaynham
Community Member 8 years agoThe EU is the biggest economy in the world, even bigger then the US.
If London wants to keep doing well it needs to stay in that economy. But that's not happening, so it's going to loose out economically.
So looking forward, there will...
Show full commentThe EU is the biggest economy in the world, even bigger then the US.
If London wants to keep doing well it needs to stay in that economy. But that's not happening, so it's going to loose out economically.
So looking forward, there will be less business, less jobs, more unemployment, more poverty.
Show less of commentRosemary Mortimer
Community Member 8 years agoAnd a happy Christmas to us all!
Show full commentAnd a happy Christmas to us all!
Show less of commentAnonymous - account deleted
Community Member 8 years agoWe keep hearing about how Leave must be right because they won. That still does not make it other than total idiocy. It is estimated (& that's only the estimate) will cost £30 billion in admin & £200 billion in economic losses. Perhaps we...
Show full commentWe keep hearing about how Leave must be right because they won. That still does not make it other than total idiocy. It is estimated (& that's only the estimate) will cost £30 billion in admin & £200 billion in economic losses. Perhaps we could vote that it would not. Britain is now in the position of having to take anything it can get from anyone anywhere. May - who only seems competent in comparison with Gove & Johnson - says we are going to be the champion of "free trade" (what- TTIP?). That's handy - when Trump is about to be the champion of Protectionism. In actual fact, nobody - not anywhere has a plan for what to do next; least of all the Leave supporters. I would not trust one of them to fetch a newspaper from the corner shop. They would only come back with the Daily Express. At least if i sent the dog he wouldn't swallow that.
Show less of commentAnonymous - account deleted
Community Member 8 years agoIn our democratic country everyone is entitled to their opinion. My opinion is as valuable as yours & that is as it should be with due respect expected by every individual. The idea of staying in the EU for me would be that it would be...
Show full commentIn our democratic country everyone is entitled to their opinion. My opinion is as valuable as yours & that is as it should be with due respect expected by every individual. The idea of staying in the EU for me would be that it would be "total idiocy" but that doesn't matter, or does it? Don't believe the economy was a factor for most of the people who voted leave. There were other more important issues which led people to vote the way they did. If the UK economy slumps then people who voted to leave will 'grin & bear it' & it won't change their minds!
Show less of commentTo state that not one of them would be able to fetch the correct paper for you is an attitude that seems to have emerged from people who voted to remain that if someone doesn't share your view or opinion they must be relegated to the ranks of the stupid or ignorant - good luck with that approach!
alggomas
Community Member 8 years agoI'm not interested in what sector claim benefits. Only whether people are here legally.
pukpuk
Community Member 8 years agoThose illegal get asylum like the man who walked through Eurotunnel.
pukpuk
Community Member 8 years agoThat's how our government solves problem of illegal migration - give them passport and there are no illegals any more.
alggomas
Community Member 8 years agoSpeaking about how the media twists information.:
Show full commentReading today's Times.
95% of new workers are foreign born.
Dear me, of course . They have been living here for a long time. You could be born in France and moved here. You are now 18/22 and...
Speaking about how the media twists information.:
Show less of commentReading today's Times.
95% of new workers are foreign born.
Dear me, of course . They have been living here for a long time. You could be born in France and moved here. You are now 18/22 and start work. Headline should say a certain % of workers are migrants/immigrants.
pukpuk
Community Member 8 years agoIf you were born abroad you are immigrant. Maybe it is different if you've been living here for 50 years or just 5 but still you're migrant.
Show full commentIf you were born abroad you are immigrant. Maybe it is different if you've been living here for 50 years or just 5 but still you're migrant.
Show less of commentpukpuk
Community Member 8 years agoIt's more interesting what percentage of benefit takers are immigrants :)
B49J
Community Member 8 years agoBeing out of the EU is terrible. Theresa May does not know how we can get a good trade without being in the EU. If Theresa May lets foreign people come to the UK for what her reasons are, the Government could not afford to pay the NHS for...
Show full commentBeing out of the EU is terrible. Theresa May does not know how we can get a good trade without being in the EU. If Theresa May lets foreign people come to the UK for what her reasons are, the Government could not afford to pay the NHS for there treatment and India is bigger than UK so if Indians came here for Theresa's reasons we wouldn't have space for them. I am not an MP but I do talk sense. The whole world can't fit in the UK. Countries with war should form their own good armies to deal with it. There is not enough jobs for people in the UK so there is no reason for continuous immigration.
Show less of commentlivehere
Community Member 8 years agoPart of the problem with jobs is that many bosses prefer workers from overseas who are more prepared to put up with lower pay and worse hours and conditions. This is not the fault of the EU, as the government can legislate against zero...
Show full commentPart of the problem with jobs is that many bosses prefer workers from overseas who are more prepared to put up with lower pay and worse hours and conditions. This is not the fault of the EU, as the government can legislate against zero hours, put up the minimum wage, etc, but has not tightened up on these enough. Also, many companies, to maintain international competitiveness, need to take skilled staff from an international pool of suitable workers. The UK is not training enough workers, and not training people to high enough standards. It is cheaper to import trained workers than it is to train UK workers.
You have to be a UK resident to get free NHS treatment.
Show less of commentpukpuk
Community Member 8 years agoLook at other metropolises, eg. Paris. Do you really want London to look the same?
MatthewBaynham
Community Member 8 years agoIt seams like the vast majority of comments have ignored the questions at the top, which is not about the rights and the wrong of the vote or how many people voted, it's asking about looking at the future.
Well my vision of the future for...
Show full commentIt seams like the vast majority of comments have ignored the questions at the top, which is not about the rights and the wrong of the vote or how many people voted, it's asking about looking at the future.
Well my vision of the future for London will be that the 27 countries remaining in the EU will want some of the business that goes on in London. So they will competitively negotiation a trade deal which will see many of the businesses moving to the other 27 EU countries.
Or they will keep vetoing a trade deal for the next decade. Either it's bad for London and the rest of the British economy.
Most of the banking sector will go. Every international headquarters will either be down sized or closed.
On the upside housing will become cheaper, because no one will be able to afford to live there because they won't have a job.
Show less of commentBerdilyn Russell
Community Member 8 years agoI did not born in this country but from what I can see if any country can pick up itself and fight back is the UK. No matter what this country come up against it always land back on it feet. and
Show full commentwhen one door close there are many more...
I did not born in this country but from what I can see if any country can pick up itself and fight back is the UK. No matter what this country come up against it always land back on it feet. and
Show less of commentwhen one door close there are many more doors to be open. I did not born here but from what I can see UK has the power to succeed in whatever the country puts their mind to. Working with other none EU countries will help to give the UK the back up it needs. Never stop fight to be the UK it once was and how it should be. Work in harmony with each other can works wonders. There are people here who will willing to help to build the UK up again, this country will never suffer any defeat.
livehere
Community Member 8 years agoBut what was it, and when?
Abraham Baccas
Community Member 8 years agoThe key issue is that we have a Prime Minister who has openly betrayed the country, barely 4 months ago she was campaigning to remain, and now she can't get us out fast enough! Boris Johnson, one of the most embarrassing governments...
Show full commentThe key issue is that we have a Prime Minister who has openly betrayed the country, barely 4 months ago she was campaigning to remain, and now she can't get us out fast enough! Boris Johnson, one of the most embarrassing governments minister ever known is to be representing our country to the rest of the world. The rest of Theresa Mays appointed ministers have proven to be about as much use as a chocolate teapot. They are the laughing stock of Europe. With these people in charge, who is London going to negotiate with that will take us seriously? Added to that we have an electorate, who despite all the facts showing that they have been lied to and conned, are now trying to gag the voices of those that are speaking out.
Show less of commentLondon needs Sadiq Khan to demonstrate effective leadership by boldly speaking about the lies and treachery of Theresa May and her colleagues, and demand a second referendum. He needs to remind everyone that the only countries who will do trade deals with London and the UK are those who want to sell their stuff to us, they don't need to buy anything from us because they're already buying what they want from other countries! Also, which country is going to do a deal with a country that has shown itself to be openly racist? He needs to let people know that the current government are living in cloud cuckoo land and they have no idea how they are going to make a success of Brexit, but they don't care because they are all sufficiently well off that it won't affect them. As Boris Johnson has shown, their desire for Brexit has nothing to do with the success of London and the rest of the country, they are interested purely in their own ambition, and if they are allowed to continue the damage will be irreversible. Already an incredible amount of damage has been done with most of the Financial Industry already putting plans in place to move their business to Dublin and Frankfurt. What will happen to Canary Wharf when they go? What will be the point of massive projects like Crossrail when they go? It can still be halted if we come to our senses and Sadiq Khan can do something about, rather than wandering around trying to be a man-pleaser. Yes, it means he has to be controversial, and he will upset a lot of people, but at the moment 48% of the population are upset anyway so he nothing to lose and a lot to gain. he could go down in history as the man who saved London and the rest of Britain from the worst catastrophe it has ever faced by stopping the country from leaving the wealthiest, most culturally diverse and progressive area on the planet, and preventing it becoming one of the most shunned countries in existence.
Rosemary Mortimer
Community Member 8 years agoSo you didn't like the result of the referendum, but life moves on.
Show full commentSo you didn't like the result of the referendum, but life moves on.
Show less of commentStephen James
Community Member 8 years agoNo, we should not simply move on. We should not because that is the view of fatalists. No, Rosemary, we should not simply roll over and accept a fate determined by politicians who set out to deceive. This week Boris Johnson was exposed, he...
Show full commentNo, we should not simply move on. We should not because that is the view of fatalists. No, Rosemary, we should not simply roll over and accept a fate determined by politicians who set out to deceive. This week Boris Johnson was exposed, he who recently published an article stating that Brexit would be a mistake. Do we really want to put our fate in the hands of this charlatan motivated by a self serving interest. Farage is a liar. He owned up to that on morning TV the day after Brexit. Gove has a long history of poor decisions
To accept our fate is to do nothing. A week after Brexit 1500 staff at Lloyds lost their jobs a direct result, say Lloyds, of the Brexit vote. There have been others. Two months after the vote the pound is worth a great deal less than before - a direct result of a global perception that we as a nation will be weaker. Inflation is already on the rise and wages will not. There are strong signs that we are heading off the rails.
And Brexit hasn't even happened yet. Only the vote. If we do nothing then when we actually leave we can guarantee that what we have already seen will be exponentially worse.
So we should not just 'move on'. We should not just quit and let fate do unto us as fate sees fit. It is our patriotic duty to act, protect and thrive. You will recall the promised savings of £350m a week. Government declared this week that we might just have to continue paying into the Europe pot if we are to retain access to the single market. Brexit or no Brexit. They have to act in the interest of the country and if it is in Londons interest to have devolved powers and the ability to raise tax revenue then that is what we have to do.
Last week I was invited by a London based company to help them set up an off shore company. They are protecting their interests and I am sure they are not the only ones. Recently I transferred my pension fund off shore for the same reason. Given the weakening Pound, to do nothing would have seen my fund whither. I give a personal perspective to illustrate that we cannot ignore what is happening and will probably get worse.
I urge you and others to reconsider Abraham's comments again and to ask yourself is there a chance he might be right?
Show less of commentalangsmith
Community Member 8 years agoThe fact is that the UK, as a whole, voted to leave the EU. London is not independent of the UK but a part. The most important thing is that we, as a nation state, respect the wishes of the whole and deliver. All else is mere chatter from...
Show full commentThe fact is that the UK, as a whole, voted to leave the EU. London is not independent of the UK but a part. The most important thing is that we, as a nation state, respect the wishes of the whole and deliver. All else is mere chatter from the disgruntled.
Show less of commentlivehere
Community Member 8 years agoIt was a badly designed referendum, with a result that reflected the wishes of barely half of those who voted. Hardly the wishes of the whole, especially as some of those who voted for Brexit afterwards said they did so only did so as a...
Show full commentIt was a badly designed referendum, with a result that reflected the wishes of barely half of those who voted. Hardly the wishes of the whole, especially as some of those who voted for Brexit afterwards said they did so only did so as a kind of shot across the bows of the establishment, and they did not actually want to leave the EU. Funny way to practice democracy.
Show less of commentalangsmith
Community Member 8 years ago'It was a badly designed referendum'. What you mean is that you didn't like the result! Be honest. 'Hardly the wishes of the whole'. You cannot force people to vote. That's not how it works. Everyone eligible to vote has the choice and...
Show full comment'It was a badly designed referendum'. What you mean is that you didn't like the result! Be honest. 'Hardly the wishes of the whole'. You cannot force people to vote. That's not how it works. Everyone eligible to vote has the choice and those who abstain are indicating their wish to accept the verdict of the majority. It is their right to abstain and it does not invalidate the result in any way. Otherwise no election would be valid! It's not 'funny' in any way but, in fact, legitimate.
Show less of commentAnonymous - account deleted
Community Member 8 years ago1st - we need free movement of people
Sadiq, do you remember saying that we don't just tolerate our different communities in London, we celebrate our diversity? It seems to me that the diverse and vibrant nature of London is under serious...
Show full comment1st - we need free movement of people
Sadiq, do you remember saying that we don't just tolerate our different communities in London, we celebrate our diversity? It seems to me that the diverse and vibrant nature of London is under serious threat from first the property developers and now the Brexit vote.
It's not just the thought of losing all the EU Londoners that worries me, although I can't express how saddened I am by that possibility. London will cease to attract creative and exciting people from all over if we become inward looking as part of a post-Brexit England. And poorer London won't attract so many people. It will be a duller, drearier place.
And we - and our children - will be trapped here with high unemployment and few opportunities.
2. - we need to protect our money
We will have less money in post-Brexit London because the City will be badly affected. So we have to protect what we have from the parts of the country that voted to leave the EU and now claim they're entitled to funding equivalent to their former EU subsidies because that's what they were promised by the Leave Campaign.
London voted to remain. We shouldn't have to make up the shortfall on EU subsidies to other regions and farmers (many of whom are wealthy landowners) when Londoners are living in emergency accommodation, suffering from understaffing in hospitals and shortages of school places.
3. Sadiq must be involved in negotiations
Sadiq or some other representation for London must be included in shaping Brexit (if we really can't prevent it). Other commenters have pointed out that the PM seems to be listening to the Scots and Northern Irish. We in London outnumber the Scots and Northern Irish combined, and our interests need to be represented.
4. Work with other 'remain' regions
Personally, I think London, Scotland and Northern Ireland should work together to prevent Brexit. The vote was carried by a tiny majority of 3.8%. Many who voted to leave did so on the basis of the lies they were told, and promises that will never be kept. That's not democracy. Since the referendum it has become clear there never was a Brexit plan. The country is divided. The economy is just beginning to be affected and the future looks very bleak. Some have also said that consitutionally the referendum was only advisory.
Please consider working with other regions to minimise its toxic effect, or stop it completely.
Show less of commentRosemary Mortimer
Community Member 8 years agoThe referendum was only advisory, but it was a clear mandate to Leave. Three months after the vote what have we got? Higher employment, more export sales, a record number of visitors. And a bumper Olympic games for Britain. There will be...
Show full commentThe referendum was only advisory, but it was a clear mandate to Leave. Three months after the vote what have we got? Higher employment, more export sales, a record number of visitors. And a bumper Olympic games for Britain. There will be difficulties along the way to Leave, it won't all be good news, but the threats of economic Armageddon have no life in them. And all this talk of celebrating diversity? How about supporting unity and extending the hand of friendship to our fellow countrymen not living in London? We are all the same people, aren't we?
Show less of commentAnonymous - account deleted
Community Member 8 years agoI'm not sure that it was a clear mandate to leave when you look at the number of Bregrets there were afterwards. 3.8% is not a massive majority. If 700,000 voters had voted differently we'd be staying. If EU nationals (who normally vote in...
Show full commentI'm not sure that it was a clear mandate to leave when you look at the number of Bregrets there were afterwards. 3.8% is not a massive majority. If 700,000 voters had voted differently we'd be staying. If EU nationals (who normally vote in general and local elections) had been allowed to vote, if 16-18 year-olds had been allowed to vote - the result could have been very different.
And, as I said, many people voted leave because they wanted more money for the NHS.
As for the economy, yes, at moment the pound is low so we're exporting more, and we have slightly higher employment but slower wage growth. The crucial thing is though, we haven't left yet. The banks haven't moved out of London, nor have the Japanese car firms and other big businesses. We still have trade agreements because we're still in the EU. And the Bank of England has been propping up the economy.
I agree with you about supporting unity and extending the hand of friendship. I would just extend it across the Channel as well. I don't see that there's any contradiction there - I don't have to choose between the rest of the UK and the people of the EU, of the people of the Commonwealth or elsewhere. We're all human beings.
Show less of commentAnonymous - account deleted
Community Member 8 years agoBritain is culturally on the other side of the planet to the Continent. Neither side understand each other, nor have each others' interests at heart. It never worked in the past and the Brexit vote is a sign it continues not to work out....
Show full commentBritain is culturally on the other side of the planet to the Continent. Neither side understand each other, nor have each others' interests at heart. It never worked in the past and the Brexit vote is a sign it continues not to work out. "If it broke, don't fix it!"
Show less of comment