It has been a gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain… unless, of course, you’re an irony lover who enjoyed Boris Johnson explaining why English football clubs were wrong to want to leave an established, successful European set-up on the vague promise of more riches elsewhere.
Boris might not have followed that thought all the way to its logical conclusion just yet, but while he catches up the concept of Brexit regret is slowly and surely growing among those who joined him in voting Leave in 2016.
Brexiteer radio host Nick Ferrari of LBC looked uncomfortable when a caller told him, “I voted to Leave and the EU have been useless on vaccines, but I do a lot of Ebay selling and now no-one in Europe wants to buy from me. I’ve been lied to.
“Did anyone say ‘when we leave the EU all our stuff’s going to be taxed’? Why is someone in Europe going to buy a record from me when there is 25% tax on it? It is outrageous.”
In Benidorm, retired former Brexiteer Joe told website GCTN that the new 180-day restriction on visits to the EU means “People are panicking to sell their properties purely because they’re going to be away from their properties for 90 days.”
He added: “Brexit itself, when it was first started, was going to be brilliant because I honestly believe that Britain should stay Britain and we run by ourselves. There’s no way I would vote to go for it (now), because it’s harming me and my future, what I want to do with what time we have left, me and my wife together, in this sort of surroundings.”
Meanwhile, former Brexit Party MEP June Mummery retweeted an Express article about fishermen in Brixham that included this verdict on Brexit from former Leave voter Ian Perkes: “Disappointed, very very disappointed – love to have my time again and vote to stay in.
“Our business has taken a downward spiral, we’re having an absolute nightmare shipping fish throughout Europe due to the delays through the customs. We hope the delays will be temporary. At present, what is not temporary is the cost and the extra admin.”
And strangest of all was this tweet from Nigel Farage: “Tim Martin says the UK Government is starting to make the EU look like a bastion of sensible regulation. It’s hard to disagree at the moment.” As Marwood so rightly says in Withnail & I: “Even a stopped clocked tells the right time twice a day.”
What do you think? Have your say on this and more by emailing letters@theneweuropean.co.uk
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