WHAT FUTURE AFTER BREXIT – A BRITISH PERSPECTIVE

The following letter has been received from one of our readers David E and his wife which we publish at his request and without comment although we invite comment from our family of readers.

Some people have said to us it will not make any difference. 

Some people have said to us there will be issues at first but it will settle down and it will sort itself out. 

Some people have said to us nothing else matters we have our country back.

What we can be sure of is that we all now face a challenging and uncertain future and the damage done so far, does not suggest otherwise.

As positive vote in supporters we have many concerns.

Firstly we accept that a democratic vote has taken place and we are bound by the result all be it that the result is far from satisfactory being very narrow in terms of lead, showing a very worrying north south divide and perhaps more alarmingly the age vote suggests that the cream of our young people who voted in are now very disenchanted, an issue that is being mirrored with young people in Europe.

Not helpful for the UK considering this whole leap of faith is about the future. In the week since the vote result we have the Conservative and Labour parties in disarray, the financial markets unsure of the future, made worse by Standard and Poors removing the UK from its Triple A status which has been held for a remarkable 38 years.

A position that used to ensure our being the centre of the financial world and respected as such and businesses holding back on recruitment, investment and moving forward along with the murmurs of a possible recession.

Not helpful for the UK markets or indeed world markets now or in the future.

On top of this has anyone costed the financial implications of unwinding the UK from the arrangements, agreements, changing of tariffs and so on? It does not take an expert to work out it will be massive.

You can only conclude that as a nation we will be happy to spend money on lawyers, experts and mountains of paper work.  A totally unknown cost that could make some of the EU financial contributions we make look like pocket money instead of using this money sensibly to support the NHS, social needs and infrastructure.

Not helpful to the UK in supporting its seriously important needs now and in the future. Added to this there has not been a great deal of comment about the human relationships between the EU countries built up over decades. Not a subject that can be costed directly but fundamental for our future survival. 

Relationships form the building blocks which are the foundations for keeping the peace, the stability, the regeneration, the growth and prosperity which can ensure each country can flourish. Human relations do not cost anything but they are so important for the well-being for all communities and help to create a vision for the future.

We could go on but will not as we have made our point. We are sure that given time, and it will be a few or so years, the UK will have recovered but it will not be the same UK you left behind and we are not sure we will all like the one we will be going forward with.

As we spend some of our year in Spain we wondered how our lovely hard working Spanish neighbours would be feeling about us Brits the other side of the garden wall so please read the letter we sent to them which explains how we feel.

Dear neighbours,

EU referendum

As you know the United Kingdom voted to come out of the EU on Thursday 23rd June. We wish to inform you that we did vote and our choice was to stay in.

As a result the two of us are both very very sad and ashamed to be British being concerned that many serious issues now confront Europe and the UK.

We have travelled a great deal in Europe and when working became involved in trade arrangements in Germany, Italy and fact finding missions in Spain.

I learnt a great deal from this part of my working life and built up relationships with many people and companies. It is very sad to think that over more than four decades of joint development and achievement this could be put at risk.

We are very fond of Spain and its people and can assure you that we will continue to support our local town and the country as a whole.

With every best wish to you and your family.