The U.K. will take an immediate hit to their economy but they will bounce back quickly. New free trade agreements will become possibly, such as with the U.S. The U.K. will have the opportunity to get back closer with commonwealth countries.
Without the EU strangling regulations there might be more dynamism within the UK economy.
And unless the EU moves towards tighter political & budget integration, they will continue to stumble at a stagnating growth level. There is even the possibility of the EU fracturing in the future out of a crisis, which the U.K. would avoid.
2
Surprised no one has mentioned that Holland helps the US avoid tax on about $3 TRILLION profit per year. The Netherlands is the biggest tax haven in the world for US companies.
As for the UK, they have no need of the tax avoidance expertise of Holland. They have a private group of enablers like Bermuda, BVI, the Caymans, and the Channel Islands.
4
Just understand this, everybody: Brexit is going to be chaos because very rich and powerful right-wingers *want* it to be chaos. Chaos leads to fear. It leads to angry people searching for someone to blame. That’s just what hard-right-wingers want: Chaos gives the right wing license to blame everything on the twin bogeymen of The Mean Ol’ EU and immigrants (many European UK residents are already being rounded up and expelled). An economic collapse gives them a reason to gut the NHS and other social programs, under the justification that it “simply is no longer affordable,” and then keep all that tax money for themselves. Just as in the US, where decades of right-wing tax “reform” has left the middle class more financially insecure, and left the social safety net frayed — all in the service of a giant wealth transfer to the 1%, and with a resulting rise in anti-immigrant sentiment — this is another step towards feudalism, nationalism, despotism. For the UK to avoid this fate, it needs to open its eyes and acknowledge the hard-right Brexiteers are hardly patriotic people who want to return self-governance to their nation. They are selfish country-wreckers.
13
It is worth saying yet gain: "Elections have consequences."
Whether it is the UK's "Brexit" or Trump's "Wall that Mexico will pay for," too many Brits and Americans bought into stories that were outright lies by the politicians in their respective countries.
The willful ignorance of the voters in these two countries will cost them dearly. The "bill" is already starting to come due for the UK and the United States is facing the possibility of another government shut down or an expensive and phony "national emergency," if Trump refuses to sign the bipartisan compromise agreement reached by the US House and Senate.
These two situations are good examples of people voting against their own best interests for whatever reasons.
Shame on David Cameron for even thinking about risking the fate of the UK to placate some members of his political party. Shame on Nigel Farage and his supporters for lying to the citizens of the UK about the benefits of "Brexit. Shame on Donald Trump for promising that Mexico will pay for a wall on the US southern border.
And, sadly, shame also on voters in the UK and the US for believing the promises made by these politicians without understanding of the possible implications of their votes ("Brexit") and the fantasy that Mexico would pay to build a wall for the US.
8
The British Parliament and too many Brits appear to have forgotten that the British Empire no longer exists and fail to recognize that leaving the EU is far less likely to harm Europe and the rest of the world than Britain itself. its membership in the EU was a blessing for Britain, breaking through the island mentality that for so long kept the British from participating fully in the modern world. Brexit is a perfect example of that island mentality which views the rest of the world with distrust...
7
This has been sad to watch. It would be awful to be one of the youths there who are losing access to the huge European job network. Have fun applying for a work visa.
5
The Netherlands, Amsterdam in particular, should be a little more concerned about global warming and rising sea levels.
2
They have done much more about it over the last several decades than we have. They are way ahead of us, while we are in denial.
7
@Steve
If somebody is aware of rising sea levels, it's the Dutch.
They are pumping water out of their fields for hundreds of years.
8
The UK has about the lowest unemployment in Europe. It has one of the highest per capita GDPs in Europe. It also has, comparatively, a highly productive economy which places a premium on innovation, and rewards it. As a result of all that, enterprising Europeans from across the continent have flocked to the UK to work and profit from the openly capitalist atmosphere of London. And of course, that specter of that type of open economic migration was the most important reason the UK voted for Brexit.
Anyone who thinks businesses will really stampede out of the UK to set up shop in the strangling regulatory state that is the EU is deluding themselves. This article is a testament to that delusion, and to smart people who only see what they want to see.
2
Seems you stepped on your own argument. “England has one of the highest per capita GDP’s.” That’s because of the EU. What will it be after Brexit? Before The EU you couldn’t get a good meal anywhere in England besides fish and chips. Now in England there is some of the best restaurants in the world. Before EU England was Third World country. It has changed drastically since the EU. The new referendum is in order. Otherwise England will go back to being a Third World country.
10
@Mick
The Brits will be Greece, sans the sun. It's charms as a theme park won't even cut it. A continuing slide into irrelevance.
4
Democracy never works when masses of ignorant people are allowed to express their "opinion" via the voting booth. Cf Brexit and the Trumpian train wreck. "Sir, can I borrow your weapon please so I can shoot myself in the foot?"
6
Watching Teresa May and her conservative lunacy is very like witnessing a suicide. If some bad agent wanted to deliberately destroy the British economy, they could not have done better than her foolish monolithic delusional politics.
The new national anthem ought top be Fail Britannia.
2
If the United States was in the European Union the Trump voters would have voted for Brexit, and we would be in BIGLY trouble...!!!
5
Let's be clear: Brexit does not 'loom'. An artificial deadline approaches for Britain to commit great financial injury upon itself --or not. The EU is not enforcing this deadline. This injury is entirely on the foolish xenophobic British people and their inept leaders. Own goal, limeys.
4
Even a complete economic meltdown would not get the moronic Brits to realize that the Empire is long gone and that Britain is just another medium power with little if any leverage.
3
Bring those jobs to Holland. We'll happily take every single one of them. We're happy to profit from the British people's stupidity in voting for Brexit.
6
Before a Judge issues a final divorce decree, she/he asks “Do you two really want to do this?”
Second referendum please!
3
Putin and Russia are 2-0 with Brexit and Trump in 2016. What's frustrating is that in two years neither country has formulated an effective retaliation and decisive counter-attack. In the UK's case, it would be their Govt refusing to be controlled by a non-binding referendum on an incredibly complex question. Or, the UK govt could simply hold a second referendum now that its people are more educated about the horrible negatives with leaving the EU.
2
Brexit was a Tory plan helped by the far right and Putin. But the far left joined in for their own selfish means. Many Brits on the left silently supported Brexit hoping it would destroy the establishment giving rise to a socialist government. Now they all shrug their shoulders and say, “ I don’t think it will affect me”. We shall see.
2
Britain is held hostage by a small band of irrational opportunists few of whom have an agenda that rises above personal ambitions. They are carried forward on a populist wave fed by decades of blatant lies and deceit in newspapers barely worth that label.
What value does freedom of the press have when so many papers and media have been subverted by interests hostile to the national one? When Russian operatives and ultra conservative millionaires can buy and connive their way into our national dialogues and subvert them to their short term benefit and our long term detriment?
Brexit and Trump are reality soaps. Both have successfully distracted us, buried pressing challenges such as climate change, artificial intelligence, the rise of China and migration. We, including the smartest of us, obsess over the stupidities and irrelevant posturing of people like Trump and May while the world urgently demands our attention and doesn't get any.
Marx said that religion is the opium of the people. Nowadays add this media circus to what is religion, it is our self administered dose of Fentanyl and this long abuse may kill us.
1
I have never understood the appeal that Amsterdam holds for most people. I found it to be a damp, dreary city whose historic sections are pretty but claustrophobic. Moreover, the Dutch can be a tiresome group of social democratic finger waggers who will happily run you over with their bicycles. The food is terrible, the countryside is flat and boring; their language grating to the ears. Their marijuana is junk and the laws governing its use hypocritical.
Were I an employee who had the good fortune to be transferred out of Britain because of Brexit, I would hope that my firm relocated me to Paris, or Frankfurt rather than the transit hub that is Europe’s version of eastern New Jersey.
Brexit: What were they thinking?
1
The only problem is one of housing. Expats and ruthless real estate practices have made Amsterdam all but unaffordable for the average Amsterdammer.
1
“And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark— the name of the beast or the number of its name.”
1
I’m US, and I’m an unabashed liberal. But at this point I’m shaking my head at Corbin and the Liberals in the U.K. They seem as much complicit as anyone in this march off the cliff. Who there is representing the majority that is appalled at Brexit?
1
The Russians are happy with this situation, just as they were happy with trump and of course their fingers are all over both events. trump wants to pull out of nato. the putin plan is to weaken all democracies. are we going to stand by and let this happen?
3
Having been in both England and the Netherlands I would choose the latter to live in a heart beat and visit Ireland or Scotland for the trout fishing which is the Netherlands only deficit.
5
This would have been a much better article if the author had talked to people who actually live in Amsterdam and make up the city, instead of only economists, business people and expats monetizing the great city that others collectively form. Spoiler: not everybody in Amsterdam just *loves* all these London firms with their money sharks moving in, and expats 'helping' them blow our housing market through the roof.
2
@Rutger Do the people who already own homes not think rising housing prices are a good thing? I understand people trying to buy homes would not.
Whatever exit the British gov't ultimately decides, it certainly won't have any lasting impact on the British economy. It has a huge, strong, modern economy and the trade between Europe and Britain is fairly equal. Once the kinks are worked out for customs and duties between Britain and Europe, the British economy will be back on tract and growing once again. The doomsday scenarios for post-Brexit Britain remind me of the Y2K scare, which didn't amount to anything significant. Either will Brexit. Note that I don't support Brexit as it won't provide any greater benefit to Britain than staying in the EU. It's a waste of time and money.
3
@DGL47
I sincerely hope you are right.
1
Very sad for the UK. Many voters supporting Brexit allowed themselves to be manipulated by populist politicians who made promises they knew were false and could not keep. Sound familiar?
5
It is interesting to note that the British people are doing exactly what Putin would want them to do.
Weaken themselves The EU, and the entire western alliance all in one swoop. One top of that Putin then won the presidency of the United States by joining Bernie Sanders in tearing down the most popular democrat in Hillary Clinton help Donald Trump to scrape out a electoral college victory. If it wasn’t for Germany and France the entire western alliance might completely fall apart.
It’s time for the British people to stand up and stop this insanity. American will take care of Trump. Britain needs to do there part.
6
@Mick
'It’s time for the British people to stand up and stop this insanity.'
A lot of British people support it, some for extreme right-wing reasons and some for brainless football-supporter-type motives.
That is the reason the referendum result was so closely divided.
1
The day May declared Brexit is Brexit and accepted the role of negotiating it even though she was against it, the disaster of a no deal Brexit became almost inevitable. There is no graceful end for Britain. Politicians pride will not allow a second referendum and the only rational solution, to forget Brexit, has been closed.
3
The stalemate over Brexit shows that the British government processes are incompetent and ineffective. That alone is a good reason for business to headquarter in a solidly EU country, like the Netherlands where everyone seems to speak English fluently. After the divorce is final, many British companies will be headed for the exit as well.
3
The same angers and fears that brought Trump to the US have given Brexit to Britain. Both countries shot themselves in the foot rather than figure out how to steer government back to caring about normal citizens and not just the wealthy.
As the US and Britain flounder perhaps they can at least serve as a warning to other countries of how not to address this very real problem
9
The UK has £100 Billion trade deficit plus £19 Billion membership fee with the Bureaucratic controlled EU, it has no effective democratic say in the laws or how the money is spent.
1
@Rob Morse It must be painfully apparent to all Brits that the trade deficit will NOT decrease after Brexit. The complex customs regulations and inertia will doubtless impede any reductions in that deficit figure.
6
Great Britain does have a say in EU decisions and has voted over 90% of the time with the decisions made by the EU.
1
Great Britain does have a say in EU decisions and has voted over 90% of the time with the decisions made by the EU.
"Since 1999, when legislative records became available to the public for the first time in an accessible format, the UK has voted “no” to legislation on 57 occasions. It has voted “yes” 2,474 times and abstained from voting 70 times."
2
""...we don’t know what the worst is,” Mr. de Bruin lamented. “It’s out of our reach.”" He's right. And those who think that good old English know-how will cure the worst of traffic congestion at ports may be right, too. But that problem can't be solved until its full extent is known, and we're faced with potential chaos for years. It's also possible that the political realignment will multiply business opportunities, but that's more pie in the sky. The world economy is slowing, and simply relocating businesses will not grow any economy appreciably. Those who dismiss the issue of the NI backstop seem to have little appreciation of the potential disruption of the Irish economy, which at present is geared to a very soft border. Machine guns and bayonets at major border crossings are not conducive to free trade. Meanwhile, given May's potentially disastrous support for the hegemonic DUP, Ian Paisley's spawn, has already brought some physical-force Republicans back onto play. I have confidence that the Irish can adapt, but many of them know that another round of austerity may be on the horizon, thanks to May, Cameron, BoJo, Farage, and a host of mindless Little Englanders.
7
Too bad the Tories couldn't admit they were wrong the 1st time around. All they need is to give the U.K. the only real choices. Hard Brexit or a 2nd Referendum. Soft Brexit exists only in the minds of the hapless, considering the U.K. is zero leverage.
Never mind about the vexing problem of the Ireland backstop, when the skilled workers are gone and money and goods flow more restrictively, it is a no-brainer to go where these conditions are better and easier. What is left with the U.K. may be to serve each other fish n chips.
And Scotland? If the U.K. doesn't want a 2nd Referendum, it may try its own 2nd Referendum to rejoin the EU. So you see, dragging their foot won't help and Brexit is just the beginning - not the end - of bad things to come
4
By definition island nations eventually have to rely on the outside world for the sustained growth and prosperity. The EU was a great arrangement where they kept their own currency but benefited from having a huge trading bloc.
Something Brexiteers can’t seem to understand.
10
The UK parliament’s approach to managing Brexit and its relationship with the EU is akin the the crew of the Titanic democratically voting that the iceberg really needs to get out of the way.
14
I am a European at heart and not bound to any nationality. Brexit is showing the whole idea and strength of a European Union. It shows the wave of populism its limits. Britain is a grown-up nation that is making its own sovereign decisions. As applies for every grown-up, it will pay the price. Sad but true.
12
@Rudi : There is no nation called Britain.
1
@Des Johnson
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nation
1
The most business savvy countries will benefit from Brexit. This excludes the UK.
The UK has proved itself less than savvy over Brexit - and the smart businesses and countries and money are not waiting around for Britain's politicians to figure it out.
What an amazing, incredible opportunity has been given to the rest of Europe. Go for it!
133
@elise
Indeed, Italian Fiat workers (6000 of them) were dancing in the streets of Turin when Fiat moved all their mass production to Poland.
Isn't neo-liberalism a wonderful thing.
2
@elise
sorry, total nonsense - written by an American [?] with no clue about the UK
1
May has stalled, and stalled, and stalled, steadfastly wed to her "plan" that went down to defeat by a two-thirds majority. And while she has fiddled, the UK has begun to sink beneath waves (rather than arising from them, as "Rule Britania" has it). My guess would be that eventually Parliament will vote to postpone Article 50, but the damage is in progress, the gash in the hull is leaking, and the island is foundering.
49
@Wiltontraveler Getting out of the process in cancelling art 50 notice seems their sole way out of this mess; after that,an election...
5
To be fair, David Cameron handed her the poisoned chalice and has thus far gotten off smelling like a rose, rather than a pig's carcass...
3
Amongst everyday Brits, their anxiety levels must be going up daily with the emergence of deeply distressing news stories like this one. Of course, deep in the English countryside on their expansive, bucolic estates, the Landed Gentry are having but one reaction: "To the hounds, lads. To the hounds!".
30
@John Grillo
Obviously your idea of Britain has been formed by reading the novels of Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope. Actually anxiety levels are not going up among everyday Brits. Their complacency in the face looming economic harm and the worst political crisis since the war is astounding. Friends over there who voted to leave are in total denial as each new shoe falls. It's not very different from the buffoons over here who voted for Trump and are in total denial about the consequences.
176
Not according to my British relatives and friends of many decades, met while attending British Universities. The out of touch, aristocratic Tory Reese-Moggs are recklessly driving the nation right into a bottomless ditch. Hail Britannia and pass the Port!
25
@John Grillo
You mean Rees-Mogg. You can't even spell his name correctly. Actually most of the Brexiter MP's in the Conservative party are middle or lower middle class oiks in cheap suits. They wouldn't know a hand from an elbow. The largest votes for leave came from great hunting country like Sunderland, Warrington and Walsall. (NB. I also went to a British university).
12
Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, after 43 years, is not just something that is meant to scare you. This is serious business and a dangerous affair. The interrelated forces (at least five of them: Inflation/deflation, strong US$dollar against a weak pound, important monetary policy/interest rates, international trade/weak grow and political instability) that weigh on the global economy are numerous; and so are the anticipated implications, which may also be measured by a significant decreased in tax revenues, further increasing the budget deficit, as unanticipated imperatives, such as a health epidemic, call for the public purse to go on the jump.
More, the interrelated forces, as indicated immediately above, a sort of general equilibrium. In economics, general equilibrium theory attempts to explain the behavior of supply, demand, and prices in a whole economy with several or many interacting markets, by seeking to prove that the interaction of demand and supply will result in an overall (or "general") equilibrium.
6
@Prof. Yves A. Isidor- You can be sure that the ‘theory of unintended consequences will not be like a two edged sword, but a meat grinder. The citizens of the U.K. should be afraid, very afraid. They know not what they have done.
10
@Prof. Yves A. Isidor
What is the point of this post? And what is the use of equilibrium theory if the relaxation times are measured in decades while the changes are measured in months and years?
2
What is generally forgotten is that Brexit is driven primarily by anger and hurt pride. England did not keep up with the changing times, it has not much of a globally competitive industry, it was mostly the banking and services sector that had been propping it up. If it loses its base for foreign banking, Britain will become a sea power again. Unfortunately, as a submarine.....
I don't think the Brits took the time to sit back and make a cold and rational calculation. They will be in for a hard reckoning.
And they will blame the EU for it, that much is a given.
96
@Kara Ben Nemsi The instigators of Brexit just want tax cuts and deregulation for wealthy investors, much of the UK public is ignorant and easily fooled with lies, and most of the political leaders (both Tory and Labor) are feckless clowns out for themselves.
22
Can’t really forget something that isn’t true: the British economy’s ratios of manufacturing and services to GDP are almost exactly equal to those of the US, and in 2017 Britain was the 5th largest economy in the world. Try to buy a jet without a Rolls-Royce engine, or a mobile phone without an ARM chip. So, it’s as modern an economy as the US, and thus ironically “modernity” may actually explain Trump and Brexit to a surprising extent.
6
In terms of manufacturing, yes the UKs Manufacturing base studily shrunk from1900 to the 1970s. This would be expected as an “Empire” driven employee transitioned out of a model from importing cheap resources and making everything for the world. Textiles, light industry, electronics, and a host of other manufacturing sectors disappeared. But in the 80s, there was a comeback, primarily driven by joining the EU in aerospace, automotive, pharma. Most of this resurgence was due to the EU. It’s true that London’s resurgence in finance,marketing, technology was driven by EU open borders and an international workforce, but other parts of the UK developed manufacturing hubs. It’s all it risk now.
8
The day after Brexit passed, the most Googled word in the UK was.....Brexit.
On that very same day, Nigel Farrage admitted that the claim he'd painted on the side of his bus, put on transit posters, repeated endlessly on the stump for Brexit - that the National Health Service would receive 350 million extra pounds per week, was made up out of thin air.
Northern Ireland and Scotland voted overwhelmingly to Remain. Scotland came very close to voting for independence from the UK in 2014; Northern Ireland fears the return of sectarian violence if a border is reinstalled between it and the Republic. Both have benefited from membership in the EU and Remain sentiment has only grown stronger.
With the very real probability of financial destruction and disunion if Brexit, and particularly a no-deal Brexit, is put in place and the collapse of one of the key motivating rationales for supporting it, there should be a snap referendum immediately to see if the English really want to accept the consequences of this ill-judged plan.
46
@Shar- Agree, the last hope for the people of this small island is to vote again. With a STAY vote they will take the razor from their collective neck and remain a valued part of the European community. With another LEAVE vote they will pull that razor across their collective necks. But if they do choose again to leave, at least they’ll have no one to blame but themselves and the propagandists who convinced them that suicide is painless and brings on many changes.
19
@Shar Spot on. Farrage, like Trump, likes to make things up. And who can blame these spoiled boys for having a little fun? It's just harmless hyperbole, right?
2
David Cameron will eventually go down in history as the boy who destroyed the United Kingdom. Ireland, Scotland and Wales are not going to wear this.
4
Wecome to the end of the UK. At this point, it will take too long to do a second referendum, the EU has said they won't renegotiate, and there will have to be a niracle for the EU to exend the deadline beyond the end of March. We are likely headed for a no-Deal Brexit. What's that mean beyond economics for the UK?
Because of Brexit, Scotland, which voted strongly to Remain, will likely vote to leave the UK. I suspect Northern Ireland, another strongly Remain area, could start thinking of the same despite the battles of the past, to avoid a hard border. "Little England" and Wales will remain to wallow in economic difficulty for years.
This was all preventable. We in the U.S. should learn from the experience.
113
Regarding Scotland, it's indeed likely that it would seek to leave the UK and rejoin the EU. But this is far from a done-deal. It would need the approval of all member states, and Spain could (and probably will) object as it is nervous about setting a precedent for a similar process with Catalunya.
8
@Dan This is not about Scotland leaving UK now to stay in the EU (even if it was discussed before), it is more about Scotland breaking away after Brexit then applying for membership with the EU. Scotland being a new independent country, Spain could not really object.
20
The crashing out of the EU without any deal or agreement is the now likely result of the so-called Conservative party in the UK (Tories) sacrifing the well-being of their country to their own political survival. David Cameron called the Brexit referendum to assuage the anti-EU wing of his party, always assuming it would never pass. Having thusly steered his country into a highly unstable position, he high-tailed it out of 10 Downing Street and handed the PM ship over to Theresa May, who is just as inept as he was at piloting the UK through the storm the Tories themselves conjured up. Amsterdam and the Dutch show the rest of Europe how to prepare for the chaotic Brexit ahead. One major EU member that is worryingly unprepared for Brexit is Germany. The German economy is quite tightly bound to suppliers and markets in the UK, and yet chancellor Merkel and her government have shown little initiative to prepare for a no-deal brexit. In light of this, it might be a good idea to short-sell several of Germany Inc.'s top companies such as BMW and Volkswagen; the smart money has probably done so already.
12
@Pete in Downtown
The German parlament has set up a Brexit preliminary act which covers the period from 03/2019 thru 12/2020 to cover all upcoming uncertancies until further regulations and a Brexit tax act. Both will take effect latest march 2019.
2
@Maxi Nimbus I believe you're unintentionally making my point. The fact that the act or law passed by the German parliament takes effect in March - only days before Brexit - shows that little or no preparation was and is done. Merkel's answer to the problem - a tax cut - shows little appreciation for the suddenness of this impending change. Tax cuts take time to work, so this measure is like an airbag going off 10 seconds after a crash - the damage is done. Contrast this to the preparation of building infrastructure and initiatives already well underway in the Netherlands and France, and the difference is clear. A uncontrolled Brexit will impact companies key to the German economy like Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes and their suppliers. An infrastructure offensive - fiber to home, doubling down on renewables etc.- might be a good idea right about now to avoid a sudden recession.
1
The finality of Great Britain's short-term fate, at least, if not long-term fate, comes sharply into focus in this piece about moving the EMA to Amsterdam. The EU drug regulator, with nearly 1000 jobs, will not decide to move back or reverse course, if the British Government comes up with an acceptable deal or reverses Brexit. The same is true of pharmaceutical companies, international banks, and other multinational entities. The reality of Brexit, hard or soft,or no-deal, has already begun. It remains to be seen how Scotland and Northern Ireland will handle this because undoubtedly the short-term economic and political instability in those two countries will only add to headaches in Westminster.
It's tragic to think of the existential consequences of the Anglo-Saxon world's decisions to cast ourselves in a perilous place in our histories: that the US and UK fell for phony arguments (Like Mexico will pay for a border wall) because of arrogance, racial Superiority, and stupidity. Perhaps Americans will rethink what has happened to the English-speaking world and reconsider the folly, and the ugliness of white nationalism. It may be seriously too late for merry old England.
63
@Chesapeake
In the UK
Amber Rudd says the increased use of food banks is partly down to problems in rolling out universal credit
52% average increase in food bank use in areas that have had Universal Credit for at least 12 months compared to 13% in areas that have not.
Don't forget those deliberately left behind -
These were also a factor in Trump's success.
Not White Nationism - but an underclass created through policy.
4
The "underclass" was also created by automation and the global economy moving jobs to Asia. You can't solely blame policy.
Trumps wall and the UK's Brexit will not turn back the clock. Low wage workers need to retrain, collaborate and be creative in their choices for our global, digital and automated reality.
4
Not only is Brexit a dumb idea, but it is unconscionable that the UK can't spell out what will happen the day after the hard Brexit. The time to make policies and procedures for trade,etc for a no deal Brexit is now, not on the day after the deadline.
12
From the movement of companies and organizations, the time has past for a comprehensive deal.
5
Some British, perhaps better said, English people fancy they aren’t really European; their identity is built on geography. However, that has changed with the advent of the Web. As is my country and in others, a large segment wants to believe the future can be forestalled. Alas, it can not. But it can be shaped. That is the key point demagogues wearing ugly ball caps miss: change is inevitable; what the change is we can define and benefit from. Isolation isn’t the answer. It was tried in the 19th century, and it didn’t work.
36
Just for having their fishing rights back not to mention new trade deals. Brexit is a great deal! The EU is going down in flames in its current incarnation. Apparently, the article writes failed to mention the contractions happening in the EU economy. It is losing world trade share. Gilet Jaunes and the revolt of the working and middle classes against the elites. Stagnant growth. Actual declines in Italian and German manufacturing. Impossible currency to keep afloat. Gosh, what is there not to stay and love? Yes, Brexit, yes!
6
@PLH Crawford
There is one small problem with this argument though.
Britain's biggest businesses were banks and services. Also UK was never part of Euro. Britain is not part of Schengen zone, even though free movement from EU citizens was allowed.
Even I was supporting Brexit arguments because EU is heavily bureaucratic.
But what politicians who were campaigning for Brexit did not say is that there are lot of EU rules which are beneficial to UK and Brexit is not an unalloyed blessing.
EU wanted to make a point by making Brexit hard for Britain. As Nigel Farage told in EU parliament on the day of Brexit: Nobody took them seriously and see now who is laughing!
1
@RaVi Kiran K, there is one exceptionally large problem with perceptions of EU bureaucracy and that is the UK need large parts of it to function. Notions of slim government from Thatcher on means that there is nobody with the appropriate skills to do the work. A splendid example of this is letting a contract to a ferry company that has no ships. The EU needs reform and it will come because we can't respond quickly enough to the present globally destructive challenges we face.
5
@PLH Crawford
And the fish from the British waters is not consumed in Britain and has to be exported to.....Europe, of course under the condition that European fisherman are allowed in the British waters.
3
This will be most colossal own-goal in the history of democracy.
54
Will this translate to lower real estate price in London?
A 2-br affair at the Docklands should come down.
If Europe could survive the Black Death and WWII, it can survive this too.
1
"Amsterdam has largely struck out in attracting global banks, most of which have picked cities where they already have offices, especially Frankfurt. Bankers have taken umbrage at Dutch laws that limit the size of bonus payments."
You mean to say the Dutch economy can't attract the geniuses who crashed the world economy in 2008? Oh no! How will they survive?!
Good on the Dutch for sticking with tough bonus rules. I wish the rest of the world would follow.
11
@Erik
Couldn't agree more with this aspect of the situation. However, it must also be said that Holland is a major tax haven (belasting paradijs), contributing to underfunded national budgets, over-taxation of working people, and super-charged inequality around the world.
Brexit is the poster child for misinformation and xenophobia resulting in shooting yourself in the foot. The working class is about to find out that wealth concentration is the cause of their economic ills, not immigrants like they've been told. It's a lesson for US voters too.
15
CAN WE PLEASE LET THIS BE A LESSON TO ALL VOTERS EVERYWHERE?
Your individual vote DOES count. It is NOT a venue for protest.
15
Britain has seized a shiny apple but will taste a bitter fruit.
1
In the entire article, not much has been mentioned about human factor. Due to the movement of companies of any hue and colors, people at different levels are involved and they also need to displace themselves to another location leaving their houses recently bought with mortgage and might not want to buy again in the new place. Then, there is a comfortable education for children and other outside-profession activities, mainly cultural bonds. All these factors related to humans will be massively disrupted. Anybody bothered about it??
1
@AsisAkb Theresa May is preparing the troops! Brexiters never cared. The UK is staring at disaster brought on by the Tories. Short answer to you.
@Hector It is quite confusing who is in control. I had great hopes on Jeremy Corbyn, but he does not seem to go to nitty-gritty of possible solutions, particularly on human factors.
Putin and Russia have succeeded in disrupting USA, GB, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Italy, etc...
It’’s interesting and impressive that they’ve not (yet) been successful in France even though they’ve tried and continue to do so through the yellow vests.
3
The Torres and the rest of the Brexiteers tink that the Republic of Ireland will blink or will be forced to do so by the rest of the EU
We shall see.
Frankfurt may soon be the western world's new financial capital. London had a good run, but gave it all up -- for what?
12
@JustInsideBeltway
'.....for Harry, England and St George!'
England has always been an island unto itself. The people never really bought into the EU. The anti-democratic forces that have been lurking in the shadows since 1918, saw the British people's discontent with the exo-national nature of the EU governance as an opportunity to cause chaos. It is the inevitable fate of that small island to continually return to isolationism after it adventures into an open society.
Trump is playing the same tune here in the US. He is stirring the evil stew of superior thinking. It is no coincidence that Hitler was well supported by the upper crust of English speaking society in the US and in England.
9
@MKKW Fun Fact: Hitler has a portrait of Henry Ford in his Munich office since 1922.
You wouldn't want to be "lavished" with Dutch "cuisine" anyway. It's potatoes and turnips.
6
Sounds similar to British cuisine. It might work in their favour.
8
@globalnomad 'Bout the same as Boise cuisine that is.
4
@globalnomad
You must not have traveled there much since the second world war. You would be surprised at the cuisine. Certainly, potatoes still feature prominently (and why not Wageningen is one of the world's preeminent international potato research centers), but it includes much, much more.
4
Maybe the upside will be after GB slides into the last century all the Russians who own property there will sell and move to more modern counteries. Then they won’t have to worry so much about random poisonings.
19
I would probably be struggling much more to understand how the Brits could descend into this biting-nose-to-spite-face form of nationalism, but we have Trump and so I understand better. What has seemed impossible comes to pass. It's down to Mueller and Pelosi.
24
@a goldstein us voters could do the trick also.
2
Wait. Our POTUS and his supporters have nothing to do with Brexit.
And remember the words - prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
While folks rightfully are focusing on the worst right now - who knows the best can be better than the best.
If Britain survived for centuries without EU - I dare say it will for a few more centuries. Not that I am an imperialist - but a small country like Britain ruled the waves at one time - and that did not just happen by hoping.
As to Amsterdam - if I was any younger - I would move there in a heartbeat.
The airport is spectacular - I fly through it 4 times a year and sometimes 6 times. One of the better ones organized. KLM lounge could be better though.
It's public transportation is good and reliable and clean.
The only thing I would worry if I was an employer - are it's anti drug laws - or rather no laws at all.
2
The lack of ant-drug laws - much less than you seem to think - is a boon: no silly war on drugs, peace in the streets, one of the lowest incidences of drug use in Europe (yes, really), and a constant monitoring for bad drugs that could kill, with public health warnings in case some really bad stuff gets detected. Please don’t bring your possibly restrictive US mindset to Amsterdam, just enjoy the freedom which, arguably, is the greatest anywhere in the world. Cheers!
28
Past performance is not a measure of future success.
You’ve put as much thought into this as the politicians leading this clown show.
4
Yes, the lack of anti-drug rules must be a real concern to you. Never mind the 10x higher drug overdose death rate in the US.
This is a major problem with the US, the uninformed public. Cannabis use - the stuff that is legal in the Netherlands - has been lower in the Netherlands than the US for a longer time. This is from analysis of waste water, which seems to provide the most reliable estimates.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
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David Cameron will forever be remembered as the British PM who put the final nail in the coffin of The British Empire.
The United States needs to observe and learn from this foolish mistake.
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@Rick BOJO is also to blame.
2
@Rick, No that would be an accolade for Dave, the British Empire was heinous and Britain's ambitions ultimately contributed to such atrocities as the genocide of Native Americans.
Brexiters are Trumpsters. Bertrand Russell wrote, "The less rational a man is, the oftener he will fail to perceive how what injures others also injures him, because hatred or envy will blind him."
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I can see why pensioners would constitute a strong base of support for Brexit; they're not in the same position as young people trying to advance their careers. If their sons, daughters, and grandchildren fall into unemployment as the economy declines, I'm sure the pensioners, with the rare, steady and secure incomes in the country, will be eager to step in and help. Then again, how exactly are those pensions funded? Maybe, if the economy destabilizes, they might just not be. Or maybe they will be, but simply not enough for real support once the kids move back in with them. Stubborn fools.
13
“I got a letter the other day from a woman. She said, ‘I don’t want government-run health care. I don’t want socialized medicine. And don’t touch my Medicare.’”
Has this woman been English, She would have voted for Brexit. It makes one question (a bit) the wisdom of majority rule.
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@Frank Richards But the US does not have majority rule and it is debatable which country is more dysfunctional.
The generally perceived view is the UK is in the lead for dysfunction, but the US has a Trump card.
3
The Netherlands will -according to the economists-lose more that it will gain from Brexit. But besides the perceived restored sovereignty of the Brits all of us will lose out. EU because of losing a major member, the UK most likely on almost everything. Sadly also the youth of the UK who's majority voted remain: they will suffer most from this for many, many years to come.
29
The fact that Brexit was even put to a vote, then won, and now seemingly can't be reversed, no matter how patently stupid and harmful it is, except to a few wealthy tax evaders, reflects very badly on the the UK's political system. The same goes for the US and Trump: the fact that Trump was elected and now is kept in place by a craven Republican party despite how destructive he is. Both Brexit and Trump have made glaringly plain the fatal weaknesses in both the UK and US political systems, making both countries unreliable trade and military partners. Putin and Xi must be smiling.
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@walkman
All the Brexiters and Trumpists should be given a country somewhere, Central America, maybe. We will let those people come here to work and be citizens. The B and T people can live in their caves, let no one different in, listen to rantings and lies by stupid leaders, be taken advantage of by grifters, build walls around their country (big beautiful walls), keep out anyone not their color, trade with no one, have no coantact with anyone, and tell themselves how great it is.
That way the rest of the world can move on from them.
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@JKile
Actually it would be best if these folks could be assigned to their own collective planets.
1
I’m glad Britain voted to exit. I’d rather be free and poor than rich with stipulations. Everyone who says how terrible this is for Britain needs to own up and tell Palestinians that they are missing out on valuable profits from Israeli expansions in the West Bank or tell Indigenous peoples that they are a bunch of dummies for not abandoning their way of life for western lifestyle with a sweet life of nonstop work, iPhones and monoculture. If Britons want less people in their country and less trade they can. It’s called freedom.
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@Martin Alexander you assume that this is what the Brits want. Yes too many should have voted and didn't, but I would bet that right now the majority don't favor it. I suppose we all should have the right to shoot ourselves in the foot. It doesn't mean that it wouldn't hurt and it would be obvious that it was not a wise thing to do.
14
@Martin Alexander It's called cutting of your nose to spite your face. The less rational a man is, the oftener he will fail to perceive how what injures others also injures him, because hatred or envy will blind him.
14
@judgeroybean
The less rational a man is the more he will not understand all the ramifications of what he is doing and how that might affect him in the long run. It’s called simplistic thinking.
7
There may yet be a positive outcome to this.
If the British government maintains its current level of indecisiveness, those 10,000 trucks will continue to roll off ships at Dover without obstruction simply because no one issues orders to stop them. This even could be an episode in a remake of "Yes Minister."
12
Putin is smiling.
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Great Britain was never high on my list of places to visit.
Little England is not on the list.
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@Jay David You are acting just like the pro-brexiters. I’ll informed.
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@Jay David
Doubt GB in any form will miss your absence.
2
Yes it will. Very much so.
4
Time to wake up, Britons! You are about to get a whole lot poorer, probably for a long, long time.
It will begin in earnest the moment you actually exit the EU. Note that April Fools' Day follows almost immediately. I am very sorry to see the collective national stupidity of a great nation, and I hope very much that you can veer away from the cliff of Brexit in time.
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Malcolm ... we know that, remember two of the four countries in DisUnited Kingdom voted Remain.
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@Malcolm
Your comment reminds me of a news item just after the Brexit vote. In an English northern town a reporter asked a man; are you not afraid things will get worse? He looked around and said; what do you mean?
12
@Alan Harvey
Alan, you have a country and options. Have a thought for the people of London. Liverpool, Manchester, cambridge and Oxford all voted 'remain'.
5
Seen the tell for this, more than a year ago...
Tonnage of top European ports:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_ports_in_Europe
Rotterdam and Antwerp – separately – each handle several times the tonnage of UK’s largest port...
And – as NYT describes – on the grab for trans-shipping that’d be disrupted by Brexit...
For all the clatter about the Irish backstop, most notable import/export looks to be stout – from brewery to bottler and back again...
Seems like a distraction by shiny cans...
If UK were a corporation, they’d divest Northern Ireland and Scotland – which would remain in the EU – and make London/Felixstowe a separate business unit, on a global governance par with Singapore...
Then, they could hold second separate referenda in London and in England/Wales – and see who wants to remain/exit...
EU should like this – a few more members, vs one less...
London/FS should like this – their window for being the Singapore of the Atlantic is otherwise shutting, and they could continue to rule the Commonwealth, whatever that connotes...
England/Wales should like this – they could stay or go, with a much fuller understanding of what either would mean, and greater sovereignty...
PS
Know Brits are loathe to be told what to do – especially from some boor in a below-grade bunker across the pond...
So, don’t believe me – hire on your own DeepMind...
Or look at Google/Alphabet did...
Or - both...
5
Very valid points ... allowing for the fact that UK ports are a bit secondary to main ports like Rotterdam, as it takes the mega container ships and moves goods to other nations and areas. There ends the good news. Dublin is extending port facilities to facilitate moving goods direct to Europe without road transport across DisUnited Kingdom. You make a very interesting point about Scotland and Northern Ireland, countries which voted 62% and 55% Remain respectively. The ability and indeed the political will to retain both as part of U.K. seems questionable. Brexit is English nationalism (lower case), this is an unalienable fact given the voting results in Scotland and NI, and is indeed a laudable quest, however to deny the same quest to Scotland or for Ireland to follow its choice to Remain would be arrogant beyond belief.
9
Get a grip, NY Times, its really not the end of the world. In answer to John, no my anxiety levels are no more elevated than normal....
Project fear (the remainers friend) was saying the economy would crash the minute we voted leave, didn't happen. Growth is still better than most of the EU constituent countries.
They said the City of London would be decimated, in fact jobs that have moved away are only just into 4 figures, a drop in the ocean relatively speaking.
Food won't run out, medicine won't run out, the dead won't be walking the earth. The four horsemen can stay home. I'm not moved at all by the establishments shrieking.
All in all I'm looking forward with some optimism to being out of the undemocratic, elitist, unelected EU.
I hope this comment isn't too discordant for the NY Times echo chanmber
7
@touristjon Don't forget to close the door on your way out...
10
You sound like RM on the FT comment section. But do keep minding those unicorns. Any day now the sunny uplands may burst into view.
3
I'd correct one statement from the article, not all Dutch people are worried, in fact only very few are worried.
5
It appears that the Brexit is causing a temporary inconvenience with small perturbation to the economy. Brexit will create new opportunities that can be exploited by U.K. No worries. The EU would like to do business with U.K as much as U.K wants to do business with U.K. All U.K has to do is eliminate impeding regulations and privatize more. Don't underestimate private companies, they move the goods fast if there is a buck to make. The U.K will be there well and alive after Brexit.
3
Privatise more?! The NHS perhaps, or the BBC? Dear Lord can you not see that’s what people get upset about: privatising profits and socialising losses. Enough of that nonsense. Nationalise the railways, water works and power plants now. Build social housing. Kick out the Russian oligarchs and their dirty billions. Give Britain back to its people. Privatise more: the gall of it all.
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@Kodali
Privatise more? I have one word for you: Carillon. If you don't understand it, stop commenting and start learning. If you do understand it, explain why it doesn't worry you.
4
@Kodali Privatise more? As in "private companies are illegal in the EU"-privatisation, or what are you talking about?
1
Actually sorry about the transformation of Amsterdam from a pleasant laid back city to an international business metropolis. AirBnb have already reduced the amount of permanent living space, American tourists are populating and photographing in the red light district, the markets and shops selling goods for every day use havedisappeared. The real and native population has migrated to the periphery and beyond. Fortunately traffic is under control thanks to limited parking and stiff fines to violators.
13
@Ostinato
Could not agree more. We are already drowning in tourists and expats, driving up rents. I'm born here and driven out by both groups, so are my friends and family. They are a plague. Same happens in cities like Venice etc. All that will be left are tourists and expats living in 5000 euro rent apartments.
Not confined to Amsterdam - other cities will win, as well
Foreign Policy :
"Britain Isn’t Just Losing Brexit. Europe Is Winning It."
"The biggest winners of Brexit—Dublin, Frankfurt, and Paris—have proved to be at least as effective at pulling business in as the Brexiteers have been at pushing business out."
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/10/17/britain-isnt-just-losing-brexit-europe-is-winning-it/
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@Woof
Thanks for this link. It all shows how gross stupidity can have consequences.
4
Are we all missing something? Hold another referendum already. Unlike us, England, you get a second chance to fix a huge mistake! Brexit will get voted down, and things can go back to (somewhat) as they were before this farce began. Anyone currently governing in Britain who still thinks it's a good idea - or even necessary - to enact a populist policy, based on a one-time, simple majority vote, and backed by the likes of Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, should step aside and let intelligent, qualified people lead.
48
If you watch the polls, a new referendum reversing the Brexit decision is far from certain.They still haven’t learned what a mistake it is.
14
@Ostinato
Those voting for 'Leave' now would be voting to a large part out of defiance. Preventing the loss of face and pride would be the driving factors, not any rational deliberations.
14
Don't forget that David Cameron initiated the Brexit vote to appease people in the Tory party. And the outcome cost him his political career. It was not a smart move, and it is likely that nobody wants to try this again.
Amsterdam is a wonderful place and deserves the benefits of poor political decisions in the UK.
8
Brexit has been a startling reveal of the incompetence of the "chumocracy" that has helmed the UK for so long. It is amazing how poorly served the British people have been by such an incompetent group of self-confident men.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/sunday/brexit-ireland-empire.html
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@Jiro SF
Yes. "Fool, Britannia!" indeed.
9
Solution = Referendum 2
17
Oh, the irony !
" Now, shipments proceed without bureaucratic hindrance, because both countries are members of the European single market. "
And yet, the " unelected bureaucrats of Brussels " are the populists' favorite scapegoats, blamed for practically everything that is wrong with their world.
They are going to see, and pay for, a lot more unelected bureaucracy after Brexit.
34
This whole Brexit mess is a stark reminder that sometimes progress stops and human societies take a step backward. Britain has Brexit to confirm this and we have Trump and Republicans.
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@Chris The same big data Co., Cambridhe Analytica, and the same manipulation of votes seem to have been used...sad!
14
The Brexit story is like a soap opera where a once wealthy family loses its fortune and it’s children will soon be destitute. As a result the children will be left to their own devices to find their way. Unfortunately for the family and its children, the show will soon be cancelled as lacking any intrinsic or entertaiment value. Say goodnight, Gracie. The party is over, time to hang separately.
11
@BS Good analogy. Bit left out is how the children became delinquent.
4
The uncertainties surrounding Brexit could be affecting the personal plans of travelers and consumers.
Because of the legal uncertainties of a no-deal Brexit, I plan to avoid traveling through England when I have travel plans to visit the European Union and Euro-currency nations.
8
@John S.
Not a Brexit supporter here, but your plans make no sense. Even as of now, travel in/to the UK has nothing to do with travel to/within Schengen countries. That is not expected to change post Brexit.
12
Right-wing populism/isolationism infesting both the UK and US is ill suited to the twenty-first century. It is already apparent what its effects will be to the smaller and less robust economy of the UK. Ultimately, if Trump's policies prevail, the US will not escape its effects either.
69
After the 2016 Brexit referendum I remember reading lots of articles stating the two countries that will be hit the most after Brexit will be Ireland and Poland. Ireland because of its proximity to the uk with lots of trade and Poland because it has a large number of workers in the uk, less workers means less money sent back etc.. Well now it’s 2019 and since the 2016 referendum both Ireland and Poland have posted economic growth above 5% per year whilst the uk is heading for a recession! Not only has Brexit not damaged these countries it has helped them. International businesses instead of investing in London are investing in Dublin and young Poles instead of working in London are working in Poland. Both countries win the uk looses!
18
@Krzysztof
There are estimated to be over 900,000 Poles living in the UK. Their status after Brexit remains to be seen.
8
@Krzysztof, an article on here says sadly in the case of a no deal Brexit Ireland will suffer economically.
2
@Krzysztof.
I'm based in Ireland and totally disagree. Yes, some bankers will relocate to Ireland, but it will in no way make up for the chaos facing manufacturing, food and agriculture.
Brexit has not yet happened and our public finances remain fragile following our near bankruptcy post 2008.
Our own Government are also unlikely to agree with you.
6
So much for an orderly Brexit......which May could have achieved if she had not sat on her hands for 18 months and then pushing hard for plans that could not pass. Exquisite leadership.
15
@MB
Gee, why didn't Boris Johnson take care of everything? - he said it was going to be "easy."
46
Every Brit who looses their job & every company that takes a profits hit can thank David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and crew, w/ help from russia’s Putin.
139
@Sane citizen
Theresa May has played a big part in this fiasco.
Cameron lost the referendum.
May has badly bungled the negotiations and is taking the country over the cliff.
11
@Joan
I don't think May bungled the negotiations. She was handed the responsibility but not given any cards. What she bungled was putting holding the Tory party together ahead of saving the country. What was needed was to toss the Brexit Tory faction as far into the Atlantic as possible and work with the rest of the politicians, all of them. She did the opposite.
7
@Thomas Zaslavsky She should have called for a second referendum. The vote was very close and many voted who didn't understand what they voted for. And then there was the Russian money in the background. The whole process was tainted.
3
What a shambles. It's very difficult to believe that this is being allowed to happen. The older generation and those sitting on welfare in areas that have fallen behind economically have a very different value system from those who produce and work towards the future. And there were the false promises of the pro-Brexit camp that fed into their value system.
Shambolic; totally shambolic.
72
@Penn Towers
Ageist and anti poor all in one sentence. I suppose you deride single mothers as well since they make up a large part of those "sitting on welfare".
8
@Jiro SF I don't see Penn Towers as ageist and anti-poor . . . just those people were fooled (i.e., lied to) by leaders of the Brexit campaign who had an agenda and personal careers to push while playing on the fears of those whose votes were needed. Then, when it falls apart, those leaders deflect (Farage) or go missing (Boris).
Even today when polls show that a second vote would have different result, the Brexit hard liners continue to play their violins while UK has started burning.
12
Trump wants his concrete border wall and Britain their economic one. Walls as we know function two ways, keeping people out and keeping people in. The disruption in moving goods will be short term relatively speaking. Eventually the system will be in place to resume trade. The problem for Britain is that they will have lost a number of companies to the continent with little chance of getting them back. After relocating to the EU why would a company want to move back again to a volatile Britain. Hopefully we Americans will say "No" to trump even though we were dumb enough to let him into the WH.
56
I cannot fathom how Brexiteers thought this was going to be good for their country economically... Their social pushback will be and is looking like permanent harm.
In my not humble opinion, The vote was an expression of a three-ways urge... with only a yes or no answer. The other two sides of the three-way always scuttling a solution they viewed as favoring the other leg. No solution will ever be found with this three-way tug of war. Rock Paper Scissors with No Possible winner. the citizen of England are losers because of this.
The sellers of Brexit as an all encompassing solution to everything should be run out of the country. I see nothing good in the future for them. A second fail for the British Empire...
31
Brexit will be a problem for many in the UK and in Europe. But at least in Europe, they are preparing seriously for a no-deal Brexit and even exploiting the opportunities it may open. In the meantime, in the UK, they are still looking for ferries to Ostend.
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@SJP
And they're looking in the wrong places. If there is one country that is not a dictatorship and is run worse than the U.S. at this moment, it's ... (guess).
2
Both Scotland and Northern Ireland voted against Brexit but are having it imposed on them. It will be ironic if Brexit leads to the end of the United Kingdom.
210
@Diane I believe Brexit is a giant step towards a united Ireland. It may take another 50 years, but leaving the EU makes the border a major issue with almost no resolution but one, no border. I agree that the imperialists will be the cause of the loss of more of the empire.
50
@Diane London voted against it too.
1
Worth pointing out that the economy has been pretty stagnant since 2008, and hearing news of another puny growth quarter barely registers these days. It’s stale, there’s no fresh ideas, everyone’s fed up and austerity is biting on people’s spending more than ever.
“I’m getting so fed up with this Brexit.”
You and me both, mate.
Meanwhile, the band is playing ‘Nearer My God To Thee’ as the great ship UK starts to slip beneath the icy seas.
111
@Mat
Thank Tory austerity, imposed for no reason but ideology and destroying the living standards of millions. And blame the Eton-Harrow ruling class for their inbred, inompetent self-indulgence, perhaps best personified at the moment by Chris Grayling of the shipless ferry contract.
8
The Dutch are already the world's leader in the publication of scientific and technical books...in English. That tiny country surrounded by big, mean neighbors have always been good at innovative thinking.
146
@Jay David
Really? The Dutch committed many crimes as explorers in several parts of the world. Yes, they were very good at ripping off many parts of the world. They were just as mean as their neighbors and with the exception of some great painters, they really have not contributed much to world history. The Amsterdam Symphony, which touts itself as one of the world's greatest has no music to play from Dutch composers because there were no great Dutch composers. Their food is terrible, hence the reliance on cuisine from Indonesia (no great shakes either). They may publish a lot, but it will not be Dutch literature as there were very few great Dutch writers. I will give them one thing, they have managed to inveigle themselves into an EU player, one of the reasons why the EU should be disbanded.
1
@bigdoc Well, thanks from the Netherlands, what are you, Belgian? :P
First of all, our cuisine is indeed terrible which is why we now happily eat food from every country in the world.
There is plenty of Dutch literature, even great literature, but the Dutch language does not translate well, works that are great in Dutch are not great in other languages.
As for "inveigling" ourselves as an EU player, we are a player because we punch well above our weight economically and we are pragmatic traders, not ideologues.
71
@bigdoc, time to go back to the books, and find out what exactly the Dutch have contributed in such areas as science, medicine, arts, and, something not really obvious in your comment, tolerance. For starters I can recommend "The island at the center of the world".
32
Brexit is as catastrophic to UK as Trump is to USA. Why are decent people in UK and USA acting like deer caught frozen in the headlights? I recognize that not so long ago no rational person would even have dreamt that such things could happen. But it is happening. Rather than persist in believing that the absolute worst is still avoidable, we should realize that unless Brexit and Trump are checked and ultimately defeated, the future will undoubtedly be dark. So do not just sit there hoping for a good outcome. Go out into the streets and go write to your lawmakers to make them feel your strength of your resistance. Nothing less than the very existence of stable democracy is at stake.
210
@Camestegal
The right revels in darkness or the prospect of it as they believe it will punish (Insert here a group of your choice) and enhance their own prospects. After they have lived in the darkness of their own making they will then demand that those on the left do something about it.
44
@Camestegal And its happening in France with the Yellow Vests. Putin and Co are certainly behind the turmoil.
18
@Camestegal I think that you confuse the temporary change of course of an aircraft carrier with the sinking of a frigate.
5
As the article states, companies are moving to have predictability, a requirement for business. And they won’t be going back. Even if Brexit was cancelled who knows what the Brits would do next. If there is no Brexit there will continue to be a slow, quiet retreat to the continent. T. S. Elliot for the next couple of generations.
82
If Brexit was cancelled it would be the greatest return to sanity, and revocation of media untruths and sound bites in recent history. To say nothing of limiting financial exposure to the already $1.2 TRILLION which has already left UK. Healthcare could again plan with certainty of Specialist Staff, and some people would be disappointed, give me a choice between unemployment, debt, struggling, diminishing care for Priority groups... and disappointment. I’ll take disappointment!!
54
I'm not seeing anything about Britain remaining in the EU as a necessity. Can't the referendum be reversed?
10
@Bill Scurry It can, but this would have to be done by the British parliament, which is profoundly divided on Brexit.
20
@Bill Scurry
Talk of another referendum is not the way forward. If another vote was to Remain, there would be calls for yet another vote on a "Best of three" basis.
What can be done in time is the Government withdrawing the letter to the EU telling them that the UK is leaving under "Article 50". While it is theoretically possible, it would be politically highly explosive.
I suspect the UK will just wander indecisively into the twilight. Brexit is not the cause, but is a symptom of similar deeper political, economic and social problems in many Western countries.
18
@Michael So you want a do-over. And in the fair tale event it occurs and the remain wins, do you think the EU would accept England under the same terms?
3
How would it affect The Netherlands if the new hard border were only around England and Wales? How would it affect Scotland if Northern Ireland merged with the Republic of Ireland and the channel between NI and Scotland did not have a hard border?
26
@Grindelwald England has the largest population by far; economically Scotland and Northern Ireland are simply far less important for the Dutch economy.
Although I imagine that Brexit has led to an increase in support for reuniting Northern Ireland with the Republic, Northern Ireland remains a divided community. I do not expect for an agreement to be reached on such a change any time soon.
23
@Grindelwald,
We couldn't possibly shout aloud about it. But we all might expect that the EU would be as supportive of EU supporting citizens as the other way around. Irrespective of size of whatever.
8
@Gerard and @Ivo Vos, I'm just guessing, but I think of the situation in terms of the British Isles and the Netherlands as being geographically important transfer points between the EU and the not-EU, both of goods and people. Yes the UK has a larger population and economy than the Netherlands, but even with Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is only about 1/5 the size of the remaining EU 27. That's where much of this
If there is a soft Brexit (May's Plan), within two years there will have to be a hard border somewhere, unless the UK decides to become like Norway. For a hard Brexit, the hard border has to go up very quickly, some of it perhaps in days. The EU has admitted that a very limited extra time might be possible to iron out some last minute plans, but that they would have to be very specific, and probably involve a document outside of the Article 50 framework.
So, Dutchmen, think like traders! What should the new trade routes be?
5