£250bn and that's why they want us to rejoin.

One more point

Australian voters say no, this is kinda their Brexit moment.

[Link]

They just had a referendum backed by the great and the good to give indigenous people a say enshrined in the constitution with a new body called The Voice. All the stops have been pulled out to guilt the voters that a no vote means you are racist.

However the government has got a bloody nose with some first people even voting against it.

The average Aussie is saying they are not against first people's rights but against this policy. The Voice would be able to demand changes in any future legislation and this is the sticking point.

The government would not say who would sit on this new powerful body and how they would be selected and most importantly how powerful it would be.

Effectively the government was asking the people to vote for a quango without defining any controls over its powers or who sat on it, "just trust us".

Quite rightly the people said err no thanks we prefer our politics where you get to vote not some unelected bureaucratic body issuing diktats.

The Labour government has really screwed this up because most Aussies are sympathetic to the cause but not at the expense of handing over democracy.

If the Labour Party survive this debacle they would be better putting forward specific legislation to address the key concerns.

One more point

And we’re on the verge of voting one in

'Brexit banker decries Brexit damage'.

Quite a shock, close to a treasonable offence, for BOE governor Andrew Bailey to make such an admission, that 'leaving the EU has led to a lack of openness in the British economy'.

It's taken Andrew 5 years of obfuscation and porkies to arrive at this

A local concern packing up and leaving for Poland where it can trade with Europe hassle and barrier free, may not hit the headlines but if many are doing that he will know.

Creating trade barriers with your most important trading partner, is not sensible, alas we voted to become poorer and we are.

All is not well in EU land

[Link]

Freedom of movement is a political aspiration. I think we all like the idea but the reality is that it encourages criminality and illegal immigration.

I have travelled to the EU multiple times since we left it's really no big deal to have to show your passport.

Edited by Badger11 (13 Nov 2023 8.22am)

One more point

For me the issue is really about political incompetence and pipe dreams.

I don't believe it is necessary to have completely open borders within the EU. The EU has standardised the rules for importing and exporting goods and services between EU countries and can use technology to ensure this is frictionless.

For the average EU citizen / holidaymaker it really isn't a big deal to have your passport checked.

The benefits of the above are you should be able to control migration and people trafficking etc without really inconveniencing the public.

Instead they opted for a policy that is being wildly abused when it is not necessary.

Hopefully for them they are now re-thinking this.

One more point