2mo ago

Deal with EU will make food cheaper and add £9bn to UK economy, says No 10

www.theguardian.com

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/29913978

13 comments

If food alone adds £9bn to the UK economy, then what was the cost of Brexit really?
Anyways it's nice to see the 2 sides having some constructive results, now that the insanity of the conservatives is out for a while.
Well, why not just rejoin? It would be pretty great wouldn't it?
- I don't expect it any time soon.
  While public opinion seems slightly in favor it's far from a done deal. Also I don't think the EU would make the same concessions the UK enjoyed in the past, which would make negotiations longer and harder.
- If every other country agrees and the UK is able to pass a rejoin referendum with 2/3 majority and will only leave with another 2/3 majority, we can probably play ball, instead of this "will they or won't they make Farage prime minister"
- There are a lot of requirements to be able to join the EU, and many of them are deal breakers for the UK that they never implemented - like having to switch to the Euro and joining Schengen. They would undoubtedly demand to get the same special exceptions they had before, and require every EU country to unanimously agree to give them, which almost certainly would never happen.
  And even before that, one of the requirements is a "significant, stable and long-lasting majority public opinion in favour of rejoining". One interpretation of this was requiring a few years of at least 65% public approval for the join.
  
  Switching to the Euro was never a requirement for EU membership, though.
  Brits didn't have it before, and there are other EU countries that stick to their national currency.
- It would be pretty great wouldn't it?
  No. It would be the opposite of great.

13 comments