B-Day: Are we really

Three and a half years of preparation for change

IT’S been three and a half years since the UK voted to leave the European Un ion – pr es u mably giving Britons plenty of time to prepare for every doom-l ade n sce n a r io imaginable.

But after countless political fallouts, three deadline extensions and two general elections, Britain – including Remain-voting Scotland – comes out of the bloc on January 31.

Some have reportedly stockpiled essential resources amid predictions of border chaos leading to shortages of food and medicines.

Meanwhile the UK Government, led by Boris Johnson, has busied itself trying to convince taxpayers to raise £500,000 to make the currently out of commission Big Ben “bong on Brexit Day”.

But have people really been that worried about the split?

“I’ve done no preparation at all,” said Val King, an admin assistant from Forfar. “It has come round quite quickly. I think everyone will be much the same. They’ve been busy with Christmas and this has just been ongoing the whole time.

“This thing about Big Ben is absolutely ridiculous. What a waste of money. You only have to look around to see how many people there are on the streets to know the money could be better spent.”

Alex Simpson, 19, an art student at Duncan of Jordanstone, said: “I wasn’t old enough to vote at the time, so people my age didn’t get a chance to have a say.

“It’ll just be a case of seeing what happens. I don’t think anyone can believe it’s happening, though.

“I really don’t think it will make much difference to people’s dayto-day lives. They’ll still get up and go about their day the same.”

Monica Anderson, a retired council worker from Dundee, said: “I’m still doubtful it will actually happen because it has dragged on so long, but I would like to see it happen.

“I voted remain before, but I don’t want Scotland to become independent from the UK so I would like to see Brexit happen.

“I don’t think we should be held hostage by politicians in Brussels. If there was another vote I would vote Leave. I would say people are fed up. By now it is either going to happen or it’s not.”

Sandy Robertson, 77, a former jute factory worker from Forfar, was less optimistic, and thinks leaving the EU is a mistake.

He said: “I still think we should remain. Things should just be left the way they are. I think the English voters made a mistake when they voted to leave, and we’re just having to put up with it.

“It wasn’t Scottish voters who voted to leave. I think there were a lot of people in the farming and fishing industries who influenced people to vote leave as well. It’s just been a big mess that we’ve been dragged into against our will.”

When approached for comment, Dundee City Council referred the Tele to council chief executive David Martin’s report on Brexit preparations, which was approved by councillors on the policy and resources committee earlier this month.

Mr Martin warned that Brexit continued to hold “significant financial and operational risks” for the council.

He wrote: “Both the Cross Party European Group and the officers’