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What next for Britain?

by
29th Jun 2016
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My young friend Fay has been pestering me with questions about the consequences of the referendum vote last week and I have proved remarkably incapable of helping. Here's a summary of her 13 questions.

The vote itself was pleasing in that the turnout was high. It was unhelpful though that it presented a real division between London and Scotland on one side and the rest of England on the other, with Wales and Northern Ireland voting in opposite directions.

The upshot may only have been decided by a few percentage points, but this decision will undoubtedly have devastating consequences, we all hope primarily to the country’s benefit.

Fay is highly intelligent but not necessarily politically astute, meaning that she (with help from some of her friends) has a stream of questions that will require answers from our new political elite in the near future.

  1. Will there be a re-vote?
  2. How will this impact Londoners and young people?
  3. Did I miss the Vote Leave document explaining what is going to happen next?
  4. Who will be the Conservative leader at the end of the year?
  5. Who will be the Labour leader at the end of the year?
  6. Since the economy seems to be collapsing why isn’t George Osborne going to call the emergency Budget that he promised?
  7. When are we going to abolish VAT?
  8. If leaving Europe can save the country hundreds of millions of pounds a week, why are we delaying setting the ball rolling until David Cameron’s successor is appointed?
  9. Alternatively, if that is a prerequisite of hitting the button, why can’t the Conservatives appoint Boris Johnson or Michael Gove in the next few weeks?
  10. The papers are saying that nobody currently in the UK will be deported. If that is the case, how are we planning to reduce immigration, which is the main reason that the country voted “out” in the first place?
  11. And what happened to the £350m weekly saving for the NHS? Isn’t that the other reason why so many people supported the Leave campaign?
  12. Everyone seems to be saying that there will be tough times for the next two years. What is suddenly going to change in year three and beyond? Following up on that point, I fully understand that leaving Europe could be a good thing in the long term. However, should I be concerned about the collapse of the pound, the plunging stock market and the suggestion that property prices will follow suit?
  13. Do politicians ever tell the truth?

Fay is not very sporty so did not ask who the next England manager will be or whether the restriction on EU immigrants would extend to football, making our teams uncompetitive. The Premier League certainly thought so when they decided to back the losing side.

She also asked me to guess what the position will be in 10 years’ time. Luckily, I have a very British crystal ball that is often surprisingly accurate.

What it tells me is that come 2026 Britain, under its new Lib Dem leader whom none of us have heard of today, will just have been welcomed back into an expanded European Union. However, to purchase entry she will have agreed to open our borders to all, swap the pound for the Euro and accept all decisions of the European Parliament with a smile on our collective face.

If that sounds unlikely, consider whether if, in 2006, I had floated the idea that 10 years on Britain might hold a referendum to leave Europe and choose to do so forcing a hitherto popular Prime Minister to resign overnight, almost certainly followed by the leader of the opposition and the manager of the England football team, would you have believed that?

Replies (1)

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RLI
By lionofludesch
29th Jun 2016 21:21

Will there be a re-vote?
No

How will this impact Londoners and young people?
Who knows? But you'll be grand.

Did I miss the Vote Leave document explaining what is going to happen next?
They've no idea. They didn't expect to win.

Who will be the Conservative leader at the end of the year?
Somebody similar to Dave Cameron.

Who will be the Labour leader at the end of the year?
Somebody similar to Jeremy Corbyn.

Since the economy seems to be collapsing why isn’t George Osborne going to call the emergency Budget that he promised?
It's not collapsing. There are a few people in London panicking.

When are we going to abolish VAT?
What ? Why would we do that ?

If leaving Europe can save the country hundreds of millions of pounds a week, why are we delaying setting the ball rolling until David Cameron’s successor is appointed?
Because we didn't have a plan (see above).

Alternatively, if that is a prerequisite of hitting the button, why can’t the Conservatives appoint Boris Johnson or Michael Gove in the next few weeks?
Maybe they will

The papers are saying that nobody currently in the UK will be deported. If that is the case, how are we planning to reduce immigration, which is the main reason that the country voted “out” in the first place?
The papers will say anything to sell papers.

And what happened to the £350m weekly saving for the NHS? Isn’t that the other reason why so many people supported the Leave campaign?
No - only a fool would believe that. The Leave campaign won because of a package of things.

Everyone seems to be saying that there will be tough times for the next two years. What is suddenly going to change in year three and beyond? Following up on that point, I fully understand that leaving Europe could be a good thing in the long term. However, should I be concerned about the collapse of the pound, the plunging stock market and the suggestion that property prices will follow suit?
No. We'll be grand.

Do politicians ever tell the truth?
Probably. But I've not come across an instance myself.

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