Sue, it is accepted by most observers including the govt who are racing to prepare for the day that Jan 1st and the weeks and months thereafter will bring disruption to our major ports. It is a direct consequence of Brexit which we will all have to suffer. How bad will it be? Nobody is quite sure but the costs to the UK of all the extra checks on our side - those as yet unhired and untrained new customs officers for example - are going to be very high.I ask again, where will we see the net benefits of Brexit? How will our country be better off by standing alone? How will we make up for the loss of export business to the EU when even the new trade deals we are still trying to agree will bring no net improvements over the ones we enjoyed as part of the EU with those same countries?Putting the Remainer/Brexiteer divide to one side, where do we as a nation gain from all this? I get the cultural argument about identity and sovereignty. I understand the immigration argument (though I don't agree with it and it was shamelessly overblown ahead of the referendum) but we still need immigrant labour for our NHS, our agriculture and much else, and while we are members of the UN, NATO, the WHO, the WTO etc, we will have some constraints on our sovereignty, all entered into willingly of course but constraints nevertheless. So where is the gain?
Jonathan Callaway ● 1980d