How I Could Have Turned Into A Leaver

I haven’t really kept up with this blog, mainly because my business has been rather busy.  Despite Brexit of course.  But it is also because it hasn’t really turned out as I expected.  I thought that it would basically be a question of the shape of Brexit gradually emerging and then being implemented in a fairly monolithic way.  I thought that the drama was over once the votes were counted.  The political problems initially failed to materialise.  It is hard to remember now, but Mrs May’s original proscription of ‘Brexit means Brexit’ was quite a decisive stroke at the time.  We weren’t going to carry on arguing about it.  We were going to leave. Brexit meant, well, Brexit.  We didn’t know the details but no doubt they were on their way.

Think Where We Could Be Now

I know the political views of around 50 people.  I don't talk about politics all the time though, so I don't know how their views change and develop in any great detail.  Also these people are ones I just happen to know and they aren't a representative sample.  But nonetheless as a rough estimate I could make a guess that if 1 person I know changes their mind that is equivalent to 2% of the population.  Not very scientific, but better than reading the newspapers.

Thoughts on the Anti-Brexit March London June 23rd 2018

To get in early with a moan, the organisers gave the big march in London yesterday some weird name I’ve already forgotten.  They should have just called it the anti-Brexit march.  That’s what it was, on the second anniversary of the vote.   It wasn’t suprising that the date should be marked by the supporters or opposers of the outcome.  What was surprising was the vast number of people who turned up to support the losing side.   There was a pro-Brexit march as well, but that was limited to the few thousand that most causes can summon up.   The anti-Brexit crowd was estimated to be 100,000, which looking at the airiel footage was unlikely to be an underestimate.

If We Don't Have A National Government Brussels Will Impose A Brexit Deal On Us

Well it has been quite a big week Brexit wise.  Jeremy Corbyn gave a big speech where he said that Labour would keep the UK in the Customs Union.  Theresa May gave a big speech where she said that the Conservatives would, err, I am not sure what she said even though thanks to the snow I was able to watch most of it while working at home. 

Divergence - How It Will Cost Jobs

I was reading a recent Westminster regulation as part of my job the other day.  Divergence is already starting.  It starts with a definition which is similar to but different from the existing one that is in use in the relevant EU regulations.  It might well have been simply that the drafters didn't bother looking at the EU text, or weren't aware of its existence.  Or possibly they felt that they couldn't refer to it without making an otherwise routine bit of legislation into a political football.  Who knows?  But it is already adding to the complexity of my business.  This kind of thing is lose-lose of course.  It will make the UK a harder market for EU and other foreign countries to export into as well as adding to the UK's costs and making us less competitive.  The sooner we get back to common sense and rejoin the better.

Wouldn't It Be Good If We Could Have A Positive Debate About Brexit

Brexit crept up on me.  I didn't take the possibility of a referendum on the subject actually being held seriously.  It didn't look much like David Cameron would win a majority in 2015 so it hardly figured in my thinking back then.   When he did win I didn't think he'd actually go through with it.   After all he came up with an elaborate pantomime about going to Brussels to negotiate a new relationship.  When to my surprise he actually called the referendum it didn't look at all likely the phobes would win.  

Is It Going To Happen?

The strongest argument for keeping going with Brexit is that respecting the democratic will of the people is more important than any other consideration.  And that is certainly true.  So long as there is no real evidence that the 52% who voted to leave have changed their minds then all the arguments in the world that we shouldn't leave count for nothing.  At the moment, no such evidence has appeared.

The Real Reason The UK Is Leaving The EU?

There's a technique in the Quality Assurance business called the 5 whys.  If you have a problem with a product or a process you ask why it happened 5 times.  Why did the brake fail?  The lining was too thin.  Why was it too thin? The drawing was wrong.  Why was it wrong?  The engineer hadn't been trained.  Why wasn't he trained?  There is no training department?  Why is there no training department?  The owner of the factory hasn't set one up.