Brexit -am I stupid or what

Baseball bat!!! This is the UK not the USA: so surely cricket bat or pickaxe handle is more appropriate.

 

Perhaps the actual date of Brexit (or revocation of article 50) should become a Bank Holiday and named as a Day of Peace and Reconcilation.

 

This thread is going off topic - and I'm as guilty as anyone else for posting non brexit related messages - we need another one specifically to discuss the election - I fink anyway.

 

Oh no, you misread that - I said I enjoy reading Opinions - not having the views slant mine I don't understand how Brexit can be of a huge consequence to people not living in the country and am interested to know why a host country would be cutting off medical care, etc- @noisette47 ? Over here, many people are from other countries and have applied for and been accepted as landed immigrants/permanent residents and they then can access our healthcare and other public services. It's really just declaring that they're here for the long term and not taking on citizenship. What is different about these European countries? They have loads of migrants from other places such as Syria, etc. and don't seem to treat them badly. Curious here.

 

Trump raised tariffs on many of our exports and you know what we did? We just shrugged and carried on. He eventually lowered them a bit because of pressure within his country. Our dollar sucks - but we've been there before. I just shop very little over the border these days.

China rejected our pigs, now they have a pork shortage due to swine flu in their country, so now they want our pigs and our politicians try to take credit for this reversal. Same old, same old.

I

ndependence whilst trading is our strength. We have a long border with the states and I don't mind there being border guards and identity checks. It goes along with being independent.​

International trade is nothing but big business. And really only about the money.

Money and state matters seem to be mushed together in the union?

What is the biggest issue, having to support other countries or having other countries tell you what to do? Or both?

 

I still don't understand. Someone living in your country and spending their money there or running a business and employing people is a positive thing in my mind.

Do the ex pats think they will be turfed from their host countries because those countries have said they will throw them out or is it just the old "double dare you" bluff and never actually been stated?

As I say, we don't get information about any of the details of what exactly would happen to residents living outside their country of citizenship.

 

At the risk of boring folks to death, I'll try to explain, albeit only from the French perspective and non-workers. When we (and thousands of others) left Britain in 2007, as pre-pensionsers or inactifs, we qualified for up to 2 years of health and social security cover, paid by Britain, as we had contributed sufficiently whilst living there. Once we reached State pension age, we were covered for life by the bi-lateral agreement between Britain and France. In between those two stages, however long that might be, we were permitted to contribute (as European citizens) to the French Health system, which doesn't come cheap! The exchange rate when we moved over was €1.50/£1, now it's around €1.15/£1. So obviously, you needed to do some careful maths to ensure that you'd have enough money to live, but you could only base your calculations on figures/agreements/the situation as it was at that time. For the very well-off, even the alternative of having to take out private health insurance was no big deal, but as I said, thousands came over here believing that the cost of living was less, they'd no mortgage, better climate etc etc. and never for a moment envisaging the current situation. The way the French health system works has evolved considerably since then, and there is means-tested help for low-income households BUT only for EU immigrants who've been stable residents for 5 years. The crux of France's immigration policy is that only people who will not become a financial burden on the State are welcome. (That's a bit of a joke, given their colonial liability, but that's another story!). So is the status of all the Brits 'living under the radar', flitting from Britain to Europe, not contributing anywhere. Little better than illegal immigrants, but because they own a house, and pay a bit of Council tax, they get away with it (up to now).
So....there are hundreds of thousands of people who thought that their status as EU citizens was secure, that their health cover was secure and that their income was sufficient. All that will change if Brexit goes ahead, especially a Brexit without a clearly-defined agreement.
Those who can/want to have taken French nationality. You don't have to choose either/or here, so most opt for the default dual nationality
I'm sure that @SianInBelgium could give you another perspective on this from the viewpoint of young, working people.
Personally, I don't think that 'the EU' has used Brits abroad as bargaining chips, whereas the British government under Theresa May most certainly did. But that's another discussion

 

Just to clarify, Lori, as far as France is concerned, Britain exports it's ageing, low-income pensioners to them, while France exports it's young, ambitious, high-spending workforce to London. That will be reversed as a result of Brexit.