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Based on the latest Yougov poll, Remainers now effectively outnumber Leavers by over 5,000,000 votes.

(Setting aside the issue of voters who've passed away, or who've come of age since 2016).

70% of Leavers think Britain was right to leave the EU, 19% think we were wrong.

5% of Remainers think Britain was right to leave the EU, 91% think we were wrong.

Applying those % to the 2016 vote tally, we get...

Leave: 12,994,581
Remain: 17,996,570

Link to poll below.
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/a rticles-reports/2022/11/17/one-five-who-voted-brexit-now-think-it-was-wrong-d

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Based on the latest Yougov poll, Remainers now effectively outnumber Leavers by over 5,000,000 votes.

(Setting aside the issue of voters who've passed away, or who've come of age since 2016).

70% of Leavers think Britain was right to leave the EU, 19% think we were wrong.

5% of Remainers think Britain was right to leave the EU, 91% think we were wrong.

Applying those % to the 2016 vote tally, we get...

Leave: 12,994,581
Remain: 17,996,570

Link to poll below.
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/a rticles-reports/2022/11/17/one-five-who-voted-brexit-now-think-it-was-wrong-d

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@The_Colbobs Hard to say. But that would be my guess too.

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@The_Colbobs Hard to say. But that would be my guess too.

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My background is in computer science, sometime in the Jurassic era. But since a certain event of June 2016, I've tended to focus on Brexit and UK politics. (My book on Brexit myths came out in October 2019.)

I indulge my geeky side whenever I can, and keep a watchful weather eye on new tech developments.

Spent 2/3 of my life abroad (Belgium, Netherlands, and fifteen years in Japan) before returning to the UK. Guess that makes me an outside insider, or an inside outsider.

#introduction

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My background is in computer science, sometime in the Jurassic era. But since a certain event of June 2016, I've tended to focus on Brexit and UK politics. (My book on Brexit myths came out in October 2019.)

I indulge my geeky side whenever I can, and keep a watchful weather eye on new tech developments.

Spent 2/3 of my life abroad (Belgium, Netherlands, and fifteen years in Japan) before returning to the UK. Guess that makes me an outside insider, or an inside outsider.

#introduction

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@crap_portraits Very handy. Thank you.

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@crap_portraits Very handy. Thank you.

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The Tory and Labour parties have a problem in common. Both include factions too politically extreme (in completely different directions) to appeal to the bulk of mainstream voters, yet VERY appealing to a subset of them.

It's like cooking with an overpowering ingredient. People who love it LOVE it. The more of it, the better. But the more of it there is, the more everyone else starts to think about dining elsewhere.

This creates a constant tension and an ever-present threat of rupture.

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The Tory and Labour parties have a problem in common. Both include factions too politically extreme (in completely different directions) to appeal to the bulk of mainstream voters, yet VERY appealing to a subset of them.

It's like cooking with an overpowering ingredient. People who love it LOVE it. The more of it, the better. But the more of it there is, the more everyone else starts to think about dining elsewhere.

This creates a constant tension and an ever-present threat of rupture.

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Here's a list to almost 900 global journalists on Mastodon.

Unfortunately it's not divided by region, but it's still helpful.

(Each consented to be on the list by uploading their own details to the spreadsheet.)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13No4yxY-oFrN8PigC2jBWXreFCHWwVRTftwP6HcREtA/

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Here's a list to almost 900 global journalists on Mastodon.

Unfortunately it's not divided by region, but it's still helpful.

(Each consented to be on the list by uploading their own details to the spreadsheet.)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13No4yxY-oFrN8PigC2jBWXreFCHWwVRTftwP6HcREtA/

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When people talk about Brexit, the fact that the EU negotiates as a bloc is often forgotten.

Why does it matter so much?

Consider Germany.

The UK does about half its trade with the EU. But Germany only does 4.8% of its trade with the UK.

We have ONE trade deal covering the whole of the EU.

If it's bad, it hurts our trade with 27 countries, i.e. half of our trade.

But it only hurts that proportion of EU countries' trade that's with the UK. In Germany's case, 4.8%.

Impact isn't symmetric.

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When people talk about Brexit, the fact that the EU negotiates as a bloc is often forgotten.

Why does it matter so much?

Consider Germany.

The UK does about half its trade with the EU. But Germany only does 4.8% of its trade with the UK.

We have ONE trade deal covering the whole of the EU.

If it's bad, it hurts our trade with 27 countries, i.e. half of our trade.

But it only hurts that proportion of EU countries' trade that's with the UK. In Germany's case, 4.8%.

Impact isn't symmetric.

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@Andhalcor @biffvernon

We certainly could have stayed in the SM but left the CU, though.

That would have left us worse off than as a full EU member, but unquestionably better off than now. (Essentially Norway's situation.)

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@Andhalcor @biffvernon

We certainly could have stayed in the SM but left the CU, though.

That would have left us worse off than as a full EU member, but unquestionably better off than now. (Essentially Norway's situation.)

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@biffvernon To be fair, the type of Brexit we ended up with wasn't inevitable. There was plenty of talk about staying in the Single Market and the Customs Union before the referendum. It was only once the vote had been won that attitudes shifted completely.

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@biffvernon To be fair, the type of Brexit we ended up with wasn't inevitable. There was plenty of talk about staying in the Single Market and the Customs Union before the referendum. It was only once the vote had been won that attitudes shifted completely.

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@Inge That's usually how these things tend to work. Without disruption, there's no reason to change view.

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@Inge That's usually how these things tend to work. Without disruption, there's no reason to change view.

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Lord Wolfson, boss of Next, made the news today for complaining that our flavour of Brexit wasn't to his liking because it didn't allow enough immigration, and that wasn't what he voted for.

Two things:
1) He advocated for Leave before the referendum.
2) He still believes Brexit is a good idea.

SOURCES

Lord Wolfson's pro-Brexit opinion piece in The Times in March 2016
https://archive.ph/K6wfg

Lord Wolfson's anti our-specific-Brexit comments to the BBC in November 2022.
https://bbc.co.uk/news/business-635739 88

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Lord Wolfson, boss of Next, made the news today for complaining that our flavour of Brexit wasn't to his liking because it didn't allow enough immigration, and that wasn't what he voted for.

Two things:
1) He advocated for Leave before the referendum.
2) He still believes Brexit is a good idea.

SOURCES

Lord Wolfson's pro-Brexit opinion piece in The Times in March 2016
https://archive.ph/K6wfg

Lord Wolfson's anti our-specific-Brexit comments to the BBC in November 2022.
https://bbc.co.uk/news/business-635739 88

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Here's what nobody explains about the UK's trade deal with NZ: stuff we sell to NZ was already almost tariff-free. Eliminating all remaining tariffs saves only £27 million a year.

But NZ sells lots of agricultural products, and the UK has hefty tariffs on those to protect our market.

Or rather the UK used to. But not any more.

As a result of the trade deal, NZ farmers will be able to send unlimited goods tariff-free after a phase-in period.

And the Tories gave away much more than the EU did.

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Here's what nobody explains about the UK's trade deal with NZ: stuff we sell to NZ was already almost tariff-free. Eliminating all remaining tariffs saves only £27 million a year.

But NZ sells lots of agricultural products, and the UK has hefty tariffs on those to protect our market.

Or rather the UK used to. But not any more.

As a result of the trade deal, NZ farmers will be able to send unlimited goods tariff-free after a phase-in period.

And the Tories gave away much more than the EU did.

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If it's easier, I've included the whole of this thread (plus some additional preamble) in an article on Medium.

You may find that a smoother read.

https://medium.com/@edwinhayward/leave-won-the-brexit-referendum-but-the-truth-is-we-all-lost-c41126f43e62

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If it's easier, I've included the whole of this thread (plus some additional preamble) in an article on Medium.

You may find that a smoother read.

https://medium.com/@edwinhayward/leave-won-the-brexit-referendum-but-the-truth-is-we-all-lost-c41126f43e62

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Phew. We've made it to the end. Or almost.

Here's the bottom line...

The EU is NOT perfect. No sensible commentator ever claimed it was.

But it operates to try to maximise the long-term interests of 27 member countries, rather than to further the electability of whatever political party happens to be in power in one.

And that means that, all other things being equal, the decisions it takes are less damaging to fewer people than those taken by uncaring national governments (sound familiar?)

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Phew. We've made it to the end. Or almost.

Here's the bottom line...

The EU is NOT perfect. No sensible commentator ever claimed it was.

But it operates to try to maximise the long-term interests of 27 member countries, rather than to further the electability of whatever political party happens to be in power in one.

And that means that, all other things being equal, the decisions it takes are less damaging to fewer people than those taken by uncaring national governments (sound familiar?)

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87. Participation in the EU emissions trading scheme, which establishes total caps on emissions while allowing individual companies to buy and sell their emission allowances to meet changing requirements. This is more flexible than the post-Brexit system, where there's an EU trading scheme and a separate scheme for the UK market only.

88. Participation in EU pandemic Early Warning and Response system (EWRS) that ties together governments and key agencies to combat cross-border health threats.

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87. Participation in the EU emissions trading scheme, which establishes total caps on emissions while allowing individual companies to buy and sell their emission allowances to meet changing requirements. This is more flexible than the post-Brexit system, where there's an EU trading scheme and a separate scheme for the UK market only.

88. Participation in EU pandemic Early Warning and Response system (EWRS) that ties together governments and key agencies to combat cross-border health threats.

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84. Enhanced human rights protection (especially against the State) through the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

85. Broadcasters can obtain a single broadcasting licence that is valid across the whole of the EU, negating the need for TV networks to obtain licences country by country.

86. Regulation and reporting of CO2 emissions in new vans and lorries, with a monitoring and enforcement system that includes fines for manufacturers that fail to meet the specified targets.

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84. Enhanced human rights protection (especially against the State) through the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

85. Broadcasters can obtain a single broadcasting licence that is valid across the whole of the EU, negating the need for TV networks to obtain licences country by country.

86. Regulation and reporting of CO2 emissions in new vans and lorries, with a monitoring and enforcement system that includes fines for manufacturers that fail to meet the specified targets.

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80. Strong right to be forgotten, obliging organisations to delete the personal data they have stored about you upon request.

81. Banks must charge the same for payments in euro across the EU as they do for the equivalent national transactions.

82. Insurance firms can sell their products all across the EU, without having to be established in every EU country they service.

83. EU citizens and firms can register .eu domain names (over 300,000 were lost to UK entities as a result of Brexit).

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80. Strong right to be forgotten, obliging organisations to delete the personal data they have stored about you upon request.

81. Banks must charge the same for payments in euro across the EU as they do for the equivalent national transactions.

82. Insurance firms can sell their products all across the EU, without having to be established in every EU country they service.

83. EU citizens and firms can register .eu domain names (over 300,000 were lost to UK entities as a result of Brexit).

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78. Strong data protection laws such as GDPR, that protect personal data maintained in any format (online, on paper etc.) Include right to withdraw your consent for the processing of your data, and right to object to receiving direct marketing. Even firms based outside of the EU must abide by GDPR rules when processing the information of EU citizens.

79. Right to know what personal data a firm holds on you, within a month of requesting it. Info should be free of charge and in accessible format.

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78. Strong data protection laws such as GDPR, that protect personal data maintained in any format (online, on paper etc.) Include right to withdraw your consent for the processing of your data, and right to object to receiving direct marketing. Even firms based outside of the EU must abide by GDPR rules when processing the information of EU citizens.

79. Right to know what personal data a firm holds on you, within a month of requesting it. Info should be free of charge and in accessible format.

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75. The right to purchase services (e.g. hotel bookings, car rentals) online from anywhere in the EU at the same price as local buyers. Firms cannot discriminate prices by geography.

76. Ability to bring home anything you buy in another EU country without a customs declaration, so long as it is for your own personal use. (Think booze cruises, for one.)

77. Right to cancel and return the order of any product bought outside of a shop (e.g. online or by telephone) within 14 days, for any reason.

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75. The right to purchase services (e.g. hotel bookings, car rentals) online from anywhere in the EU at the same price as local buyers. Firms cannot discriminate prices by geography.

76. Ability to bring home anything you buy in another EU country without a customs declaration, so long as it is for your own personal use. (Think booze cruises, for one.)

77. Right to cancel and return the order of any product bought outside of a shop (e.g. online or by telephone) within 14 days, for any reason.

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73. The right to petition the European Parliament, either singly or jointly with others, on any matter within the EU's fields of activity. This right extends to companies headquartered in EU countries, as well as to individuals.

74. Support for people with disabilities, including the European accessibility act (which mandates the accessibility requirements of various products and services) and the EU parking card.

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73. The right to petition the European Parliament, either singly or jointly with others, on any matter within the EU's fields of activity. This right extends to companies headquartered in EU countries, as well as to individuals.

74. Support for people with disabilities, including the European accessibility act (which mandates the accessibility requirements of various products and services) and the EU parking card.