Why, if you live in France, did you vote for Brexit?

First I’d better make it clear that I didn’t vote for Brexit, and I certainly never saw it coming, right up to going to bed on the night of the referendum I didn’t believe it would happen. I remember feeling of numbness when I woke up next morning and saw the result.

But, I did make a point of switching from a sterling income to a euro income as quickly as I could after moving here. It meant changing my business model and my customer base, which in turn meant no little stress and hard work, but I had a gut feeling that it was the wise thing to do. Being a bit of a control freak and very risk averse I hate putting myself at the mercy of things outside my control and I would have felt so uneasy about living in euros but tied to a sterling income that I would probably not have made the move.

Now I realise that not everybody is in the (arguably) fortunate position of being able to do that, particularly those who moved here after retirement, although that in itself is a choice. But sometimes posters seem to take it for granted that by definition the exchange rate has to be a major factor in the lives of all the Brits in France on the forum. Actually it’s not, it’s a risk you either chose to subject yourself to or you didn’t. I suppose what I’m saying is - I have total sympathy, up to a point, but I lose sympathy rapidly when folks make it sound as if they have somehow been cheated and robbed and a promise that was made to them has been broken or guarantee that they were given has been not upheld. That’s not how it is; you have to take some responsibility for how you planned things, even if only a little bit. You timed your move as you did because you gambled on the exchange rate staying good, making that the most financially beneficial way to do things. But as the small print says, investments can go down as well as up, and so can the exchange rate. As it happens it’s Brexit that’s doing a lot of the damage right now but even without Brexit, the UK economy could have gone t1ts up against the euro for a variety of reasons. It got down to parity a couple of years back before Brexit was even a twinkle in BoJo’s eye. So I suppose what I’m saying is, if you take a gamble and it goes bad, it’s fine to moan and I totally sympathise with that, I would too, but it’s hard to sympathise with folks who refuse to accept any responsiblity at all for how they planned things…

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Anna Watson

Planning is fine but it is difficult when idiots take over the HoP

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Essentially those who rely on a decent exchange rate are suffering the consequences of the UK’s long term aversion to properly integrating with Europe i.e. not becoming part of the Eurozone when it could/should have. The move for Brexit is a product of that same hanging back.

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Which leads one on to wonder - if the UK had joined the eurozone, would there ever have been a referendum? Brexit in those circumstances would have been even more complicated.

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Which is exactly my point - I just forgot to actually say it :roll_eyes:

Time to post this again:

This is now my standard reply to conversations about the B word.

In an attempt to put things on an even keel I urge everyone on both sides of the EU in/out debate to take the time to read Nick Clegg’s recent book “How to stop Brexit (and make Britain great again)”.

I don’t care if you get to the end of it & still feel vehemently opposed to having anything to do with the EU, even in the changed form that Clegg proposes. At least by reading it you will have heard many facts both for & against the EU, as well as an accurate history of how things got so bad that the referendum managed to come about. In other words you will be properly informed rather than swayed by tabloid headlines & soundbite broadcast journalism.

Personally I’d prefer that you feel moved to admit that Clegg has a point (well, many points) & that the much trumpeted hard Brexit is not only a bad idea, it’s downright folly. If you can appreciate that then supporting moves to prevent the UK from leaving the EU is the only option, when they come around (which they surely will).

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Reason for voting for Brexit?

I’ve put all my money into “developing nations” funds and US chemically “enhanced” livestock and will make a bundle when UK starts the mass import of cheap n’shoddy goods from third world child-labour sweatshops, chlorinated chicken, and anti-biotic fed growth hormone laden beef :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

(only it’s not really funny is it, it’s immoral how certain members of Parliament and prominent business figures stand to make a lot of money out of leaving whilst everyone else will be poorer).

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It’s immoral how those who voted for Brexit, voted to deny future generations the freedoms and rights they have enjoyed themselves. So very, very sad.

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And so it starts…:frowning:

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Hi Simon,

It’s good news for ‘Britexit Central’.

  1. Creating new jobs to control the queues and check for ‘Goods’, which previously was frictionless.
  2. “Taking back control” from those EU peeps (even though we had control)
  3. Going to be much poorer as a country, economically and culturally.

What’s not to like? :frowning:
Martin

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Martin Hi !! I think I may just apply to be a customs officer in France - what fun I’d have!!! :wink:

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I can imagine some of your questions…

  1. Are you an 'Expat or Immigrant?

  2. Can you tell me the price of fish…? :slight_smile:

Martin

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Yep - but you left out the most important one:

Did you vote for Brexit ? :-:rage: or possibly…

Are you a UK immigrant in France who voted for Brexit ? :-:rage:

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You never know what question they’re going to spring on you if they stop you at the customs shed in Dover. Once they stopped me when I was travelling back in my car having spent the entire summer driving the motorhome, and I couldn’t for the life of me remember where the button was to lower the window. Mr Customs-man patiently watched me scrabbling around on the door, then hunting around the dashboard, and finally locating the button down by the cigarette lighter, and when I finally got the window down he said cooly, “Is this your own car Madam?” But hey, I don’t mind being made to look a fool :rage:
That’s another thing - why do the British customs call women Madam, is that what they’re told to do? Nobody other than customs calls me Madam, in English.

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Hi Martin,
only issue with ‘good news’ Point 1) is that some organisations will transfer their European sales to other (read real European) offices i.e. will import from Production Source (probably Asia) into Europe elsewhere in Europe. No extra UK customs jobs, general reduction in UK jobs, general reduction in overall UK economy - Hurrah for Brexit, (Project codename, ‘How to empty both barrels into your own feet’)
On the other hand we do still have 2) & 3) to look forward to :slight_smile:

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Hi Ray,

You are dealing in Facts. Don’t you know the following equation?

Facts = Experts = Fake News

:slight_smile:

But yes, totally agree with your points :frowning:

Martin

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:joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy:

I think this thread is well worthwhile and whilst I have not read all of it clearly there are many others who think this issue has a long way to go as well. We may not convince anyone with our discussion but saying it is a good thing, and you never know…

I also think the quality of the debate has been pretty good for the main part. Refusing to participate really doesn’t help anyone.

Anyhow, I agree with Simon. Voting for Brexit undoubtably impairs UK National’s ability to live and work in Europe, and for someone living in France to do that seem hypocritical.

I understand the right to make that choice, but even on a personal level it seems wrong.

It seem to me that there are many who feel Brexit won’t really change anything. Like most issues it will slowly disappear over the horizon and things will continue as usual. I don’t agree. I think this will go on and on and will affect us all for many years.

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I can only comment on your Abu Hamza point - most human rights laws emanate from the UN and we also have our own, the EU follows those rules.

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I’m still trying to work out which country Brit-Patriot hates; Britain or Australia where they live.