Brexit: Yay or Nay?

[Sarah]

After some discussions elsewhere, some of us thought it would be interesting to start this thread to gain understanding on different thoughts around Brexit.

*It should be stressed that this thread isn't being made to justify either one side or the other, but to hear both and all points of view on the subject and to help those outside of the UK understand our position on it*

Personally I voted no. I feel as a country that is already so different to the United Kingdom it's supposed to be a part of, Northern Ireland didn't need to be segregated from anywhere else. I enjoy my trips to Europe, particularly France, Spain and Germany. And there is so much more to explore so why would I want to cut myself off from that with all the complications that Brexit poses for travel alone?

I don't have children but if I did I would want them to expand their minds by being part of these other wonderful cultures, something I feel is sadly lacking in Northern Ireland and in other parts of the UK.

And because I live on what is essentially an island with different rules and legislations, we are having trouble getting a lot of the things we need. Certain types of food aren't arriving on time, or in shortage, other products are being held up and even the likes of Amazon of which I'm a regular customer are sending messages such as 'Northern Ireland is not part of the UK' - which it still is, or 'sorry we can't deliver to Northern Ireland at present'.

I know there is a whole heap of politic stuff I haven't got my head round, even from Northern Ireland's perspective (because we can be dicks where politics is concerned), but things have definitely changed and I don't believe for the better.

So did you vote yes or no? And what were your reasons either way? Do you stand by your decision or regret it?

Thanks for taking part.

 

[Angela Channing]

I voted No and seeing how things have turned out I stand by my vote even more today than when I cast it. As I said on this forum at the time, even if you take out the economic argument, anything that threatened peace in Northern Ireland was not worth it. As a consequence of Brexit, violence has returned to that area after a period when everyone thought that was confined to history books.

The problems however have been wider. The xenophobia and racism that the referendum has unleashed has lead to racist attacks soaring in the UK and I have personally experienced it, as I described on another thread.

Supermarket shelves are emptier because there is a shortage of HGV drivers to transport goods and this will lead to price increases which in turn to lead to more inflation in the economy. So we will all have to pay more for goods and services. Inflation will likely trigger and increase in interest rates so everyone's mortgages will go up.

The sad thing is that all this was predicted but people didn't listen because for them it was more important to have fewer foreigners here and that trumped all the negatives that Brexit would bring.