Penny (not Euro) for Jacob’s thoughts...
JACOB Rees-Mogg is a bit lost on the benefits of Brexit. So he asked us, via The Sun,’ for help. His government clearly believes in ‘freedom’. A few suggestions...
I’d love freedom to visit friends and family across the continent whenever and for as long as I want, and for them to visit me, as and whenever they want. Couldn’t we do that? I’ve lost my EHIC rights, so I can’t afford to be ill. I’m old. Lots of stuff not working. Could we have them back?
My roaming charges are astronomical. My German friend’s phone company is not charging for roaming in UK. Can we freely change our rules now?
40% of a local business was exporting British cheese to Europe. The owner had to give up that entire market. Can’t we cut Brexit red tape now and agree equivalent veterinary and phytosanitary standards so that trade can be frictionless like you promised?
That would also protect our farming community from lower standard imports from Australia and the USA. I don’t want foreign farmers to be free to flog inferior food products or our farmers and communities sold down the river.
My niece and her Yorkshire husband live in France, on the French/German/ Luxembourg border. He worked for a UK steel company and now works in Luxembourg. Impossible as a Brit even if legally resident in France. Their rights to live and work where they choose have evaporated. They had to take French citizenship to keep their home and job opportunities. A bit peeving.
Could we look after our citizens better? Could we freely negotiate freedoms for our families to work travel, live, love anywhere across our continent? That would be great.
My niece’s children planned to study in the UK, maybe Oxbridge, with their England-based cousins. Not on. No study reciprocity. Except for the super-rich. No Erasmus-plus scheme for our young people (you know your Turing scheme is a cheap con and does nothing for ordinary people). Could we freely join Erasmus-plus?
They won’t even visit the UK with their schools now – too much red tape. We don’t accept EU ID cards any more, though they hold more information than UK passports. Could we freely change your new rules and save our multimillion pound school travel business? And make a great ad for ‘Global Britain’?
Can we choose to temporarily put a price cap on domestic fuels, like France? Or else give payments to those in fuel poverty? Can I be free not to have a compulsory loan on fuel? I don’t want it.
Please could we rip up the UK Brexit red tape ‘controlling’ the borders, blocking our roads, soiling our countryside and generally throttling our trading economy?
Could we have higher environmental standards, like Gove promised? Stricter controls on bee killing pesticides and on polluting rivers and profiteering fuel companies and how about stopping corruption, money laundering by criminals and oligarchs and access to tax havens?
Could we beef up our defences against fraud, especially on government contracts and tax evasion?
I’m really unhappy that a friend, a young but senior vet and her British husband, after living happily in our community for years, left the UK for Prague. The atmosphere here changed, petty and not so petty unkindnesses, spiteful comments about when she would be going ‘home’ to Czechia.
Home was here. They were huge contributors to our community, our economy. Our loss. I’m unhappy personally, and for what my country has become. Could we, now we are ‘free,’ choose to be kinder, more accepting, and make this country, well, pleasanter for everyone who lives here?
Is that too much to ask? From our government?
David Powell