My first laugh 'post-exit'...."Britons have lost the right to claim Americans are dumber" (attributed to yesterday's New Yorker) Mind not much to laugh about today...so glad I've always made it very clear to my French neighbours - je suis écossaise!
One of the very few phrases I have confidence to say when in France having never passed French O level ! The last time I was in your country @jennywren my pal and I had occasion to ask for assistance from a neighbour of friend's parents who had both died within weeks of each other. The neighbour was relatively friendly until we mentioned that we were Scottish. Wow the Old Alliance is fit and well, we both got hugs and kisses and a very good bottle of wine was opened!
Had the politicians spent more time explaining the pros and cons of the situation, then the result may well have been different, but equally it may well have been the same. One thing for sure, no politician on either side has covered themselves with any glory - I for one have even less respect for all of them after all this. And truthfully, I think the question was far too over-simplified by being a yes/no answer. If the EU politicians had their eyes and ears open back when David Cameron went to negotiate a change in terms, then they would have seen that there was significant unrest within the electorate of the EU and not just the UK. I voted out for a plethora of reasons, none of which were racially motivated - - immigration was a considerable factor, yes, but purely in terms of numbers/quantity. I also considered the financial situation where we are paying a hell of a lot of money into something and not getting anything but grief in return - no matter what, the UK was always going to be a net contributor to the EU whilst other countries would always be net benefactors. Whilst it is right, noble and admiral to give our global cousins a "leg-up" during times of hardship, the situation was far from that and we were in a situation where we were permanently paying out for others whilst our own infrastructure and services are crumbling and cracking under the strain. For me, there should have been a three question choice: Remain Leave Remain with a complete constitutional re-write Had the third option been the chosen one (and I suspect that it would have been), then there could be subsequent referenda to decide on those changes, and those could take place over a number of years. As I have said countless times at work over the years, don't ask my opinion if you are not ready to listen to the answer - and that is exactly what has happened here; we have been asked our opinion, and now they don't like the answer.
Copied from a fb post- A Prime Minister resigned. The £ plummeted. The FTSE 100 lost significant ground. But then the £ rallied past February levels, and the FTSE closed on a weekly high: 2.4% up on last Friday, its best performance in 4 months. President Obama decided we wouldn't be at the 'back of the queue' after all and that our 'special relationship' was still strong. The French President confirmed the Le Touquet agreement would stay in place. The President of the European Commission stated Brexit negations would be 'orderly' and stressed the UK would continue to be a 'close partner' of the EU. A big bank denied reports it would shift 2,000 staff overseas. The CBI, vehemently anti-Brexit during the referendum campaign, stated British business was resilient and would adapt. Several countries outside the EU stated they wished to begin bi-lateral trade talks with the UK immediately. If this was the predicted apocalypse, well, it was a very British one. It was all over by teatime. Not a bad first day of freedom.
In fairness to the debate, that's a typical fb post. It bears little resemblance to the truth of the whole situation (must have been posted by a politician ) - although the quotes might be quite close to the truth. The FTSE may be higher than last week but it dropped 3.15% yesterday. Obama has said that our 'special relationship' remains but has not commented about his original back of the queue remark. The French President did say that the Le Touquet agreement would stay in place - for now. I think that it will continue but may be re-negotiated in a different form over the next few years. They don't mention which big bank denies the report The CBI weren't 'vehemently' anti-Brexit. They were pro-remain. Of course British business would adapt! Apocalypse is rather an emotive word I say, send in the gunboats!
I've just received a copy of a news bulletin written by the head of a large investment management organisation post the exit vote. The view is that while not of any help to Britain's financial position post the out vote we have MUCH bigger worries to consider, those being the precarious situation in both China and that of America which is somewhat in the balance. Boy The World is a small place these days. We may be out of The EU but are still highly affected by what is going on in all parts of The World, yet in fighting and talk of splitting up the UK seems the order of the day. The financial crash of 2008 wasn't caused by The UK or The EU, from what I understand the blame was put firmly at the American's door, yet we seem more comfortable blaming each other for the grim measures that had to be put in place post the crash.
That's not entirely true. Thatis what the labour government of the day wanted us to believe, because it let them off the hook. It might have started in America, but it was in Britain where banks were issuing 125% mortgages without proper background checks. It was the same British banks that were buying bonds from America that any fool could see were high risk. We could rightly blame the bankers. But bankers are what they are, which is why our government formed a governing body to rule over the financial industry to keep it in check. At the time, that government body was called the financial services authority. The fsa had the job of keeping the banks in order, and the authority to intervene. They did nothing. That is, the government, which the fsa was part of, did nothing.
Silver Lining ....It is worth remembering what Nick Parsons at NAB said ahead of the referendum - essentially he argued the pound would recover sharply against the euro and move above 1.40 within days of a Brexit....ooohhh above 1.40 = cases of Sancerre! See something we can test for its veracity
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