The Leavers Lament is often “You Lost! Why can’t you just accept this fact and deal with it?“
The Remainer’s problem with this suggestion is that it is not so simple! Leavers woke up on 26th June 2016 looking towards what they imagine is a brighter future with no specific changes to make to their lives.
On the same morning,British business owners trading in Europe under the predication that as a business registered in an EU country they were allowed to trade in any or all other EU countries, awoke to a nightmare.
They faced the challenge of no longer being legal after 29th March 2019 without changing their business structure, their office location for that part of their business, losing valuable members of staff who decide to go home because they felt unwanted – or possibly having to fire staff who didn’t fit future Residency requirements.
Add to that the lawyers costs, the challenge of nobody knowing whether or not we would get a deal, which allowed some additional working space during the Transition Period, or whether their expatriate staff would actually be allowed to stay and work in the overseas business locations- or even finding that the terms of the ‘Deal’ would cover all these points and they had spent all that money unnecessarily!
Naturally, everybody is, even now, hoping for the best; but the niche companies, such as that owned by Jacob Rees-Mogg, have already changed their EU trading address to their company within Ireland, or have established a new business based within an EU country to which they will attach new European staff as necessary. So we have redundancies in the UK and new jobs for Europeans within the EU!
Did anyone Vote for that?
Smaller private businesses like mine, in which I am the owner and the only employee, can’t exactly afford two locations and my commercialista in Florence couldn’t recommend that I did so, having a low income and still lower level of profit!
In fairness, I didn’t set up Beyond the Yalla Dog Ltd with any expectation of becoming rich – all I wanted was to keep on working after an early redundancy – I have no desire to ‘retire’ and I had indeed created my perfect job, organising Italian activities for small groups of guests in Florence or London using my talented Italian friends to teach Fresco or Egg tempera painting, Silverpoint drawing, Florentine paper marbling, Etruscan Plate Painting, Tuscan cooking, or to take Wine tasting tours and Italian Garden Tours.
It breaks my heart that 52% of the referendum voters have believed that Leaving the European Union will somehow make Britain Great Again – What will keep our Country Great is having people with brave enough hearts to look at the ever-worsening statistics and reconsider their options.
This is why we Need a People’s Vote – just in case they have changed their minds now that Project Fear has become Project Reality Check!
Here’s to the Future!
Penny Howard
NB This Blog has now also been published on the Website of London4Europe group
Brava, Penny, for giving us your thoughts and position on this. I have always believed that the UK was a “Country Great” even before all this craziness, Cheers to you and John!
Thanks, Bob – these are highly distressing times, especially as this week there seemed to be a glimmer of hope that common sense might prevail, but now all parties seem grimly determined to press on towards the precipice and plunge the country over it into a disaster!