BEGRET, a new term for regret for voting for Brexit, i.e. leaving the European Union, is spreading rapidly across the UK. Brexit voters were shocked at the economic impact of their decision and Nigel Farage’s incredible U-turn regarding the £350 million each week that would be spent on the NHS. Many of them say they were conned after realizing the NHS money pledge was a giant lie.
Brexit campaigners painted their battle bus with the promise to use the £350 million pounds – money we send each week to the European Union – for the NHS (National Health Service). On Friday, Nigel Farage, head of anti-EU party UKIP, said it was a Leave campaign mistake – a promise they should never have made.
Millions of people across the country, especially those that voted to Leave, were shocked and sickened by Mr. Farage’s words.
When Stan Laurel made a huge mistake, he would usually start crying and wait for his best friend, Oliver Hardy to tell him off. Do you think Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson will do the same? Politicians are rarely willing to take the blame for anything. However, they are masters at finding scapegoats or giving explanations that nobody can understand.
Electoral services workers across the country are reporting a flood of calls from voters asking whether they could change their decision after witnessing the results of Thursday’s referendum and seeing the initial consequences on Friday.
The pound declined, Britain’s credit rating has been downgraded, France says that the immigrants in Calais will probably have to be housed in Britain, the Financial Times reported that banks have started moving operations out of London and into EU nations, the stock market is in decline, house prices are starting to fall, which means that a growing number of people will find themselves in negative equity, and scores of people across the country have pulled out of property-purchase deals – and this is just in the first 24 hours!
The number of BREGRETERS grew on Friday morning, and expanded at an ever faster pace as bad news came in from every direction during the day, and pledges made during the Leave campaign started to fall apart. Some conservative MPs even hinted that the immigration issue may not be as easy to control as first thought, even if the country leaves the EU – something they clearly kept very quiet about before the referendum.
Many Brexit voters wanted to go back to the good old days. Be careful what you wish for! During those supposedly good old days British workers used to travel to Germany to find jobs, and would send money home to their families – remember the early 1980s series Auf Wiedersehen Pet, with seven British migrant construction workers employed on a building site in Düsseldorf?
In an interview with ITV News, a student called Mandy Suthi who voted Leave said she deeply regrets her decision and would definitely vote Remain now if she had a second chance. Ms. Suthi added that the same applies to every member of her household.
Ms. Suthi said:
“I would go back to the polling station and vote to stay, simply because this morning the reality is kicking in. I wish we had the opportunity to vote again. (I am) very disappointed.”
Lifeguard Khembe Gibbons, from Bury St. Edmonds in Suffolk, who also voted Leave, was furious about Mr. Farage’s NHS u-turn and said she would definitely vote Remain now.
Ms. Gibbons said:
“We’ve left the EU, David Cameron’s resigned, we’re left with Boris, and Nigel has just basically given away that the NHS claim was a lie. I personally voted leave believing these lies, and I regret it more than anything, I feel genuinely robbed of my vote.”
The message was clear, unambiguous, and persuaded millions of people to vote Leave. How do they feel now, after realising that it was probably the mother of all lies?
We were warned but nobody listened
Former Prime Minister Sir John Major did warn us that leaving the NHS in the hands of UKIP and the Leave Tories was like asking a python to look after your hamsters – we were told. It seems that Sir John’s words went unheeded.
Some listeners phoned into radio channels, such as the LBC Radio Show, saying they felt ‘betrayed’ and ‘conned’ by the lies they were fed – one woman said the whole thing made her feel ‘a bit sick’.
Several Leave voters said they would have voted differently if they had known what would have happened to the pound and the economy, plus world reaction, the next day.
Many Brexit voters had not thought the whole thing through, and were shocked to see David Cameron resign so rapidly, plus the sudden fragility of the UK economy, as well as reactions from across the world. In fact, the only foreigner who agreed with what we did was Donald Trump.
Many Britons who voted Leave wanted to punish the establishment. They had no idea that they would also be punishing themselves, and now regret their decision.
Petition for 2nd referendum
A petition to hold a second EU referendum on petition.parliament.uk has attracted over two million signatures. Any petition that attracts at least just 100,000 signatures has to be debated in parliament.
The petition, created by William Oliver Healey, which can run for a period of up to six months, i.e. until 25th November, 2016, will probably attract a record number of signatures and could well trigger parliament into voting for a second referendum.
Given that Nigel Farage admitted – after Thursday’s vote result appeared on Friday – that the pledge to channel £350 million per week of EU money to the NHS was ‘a mistake’ and will not happen, hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of voters may choose differently. How many Brexit backers have changed their minds after seeing what happened to our economy on Friday is anybody’s guess.
A great deal more could happen over the next six months:
1. Our credit rating could fall further.
2. House prices could deteriorate further.
3. We may see the beginning of an exodus of banking and financial jobs from London to Dublin, Frankfurt and other EU cities.
4. It may look like a trade deal is only possible if we sign up to every single EU regulation regarding the free movement of people (but this time with no say on how these laws are created or reformed).
5. Unemployed may start to rise.
6. People will find that their pounds buy much less when they go abroad on holiday.
7. Petrol prices rise in response to a falling pound.
If things continue deteriorating between now and 25th November, it is highly unlikely that Brexit would win a second vote.
The best thing to do for the moment is to remain calm and see what happens, and to hope that either Britons get a second chance if things get really bad, or that it really was the right decision and things go well for the country.
Video – Nigel Farage talking about the £350m EU money
Watch Nigel Farage’s spectacular u-turn on the EU money for the NHS – something that the Brexit camp had promised during their campaign. He says that pledge has nothing to do with him. So, why didn’t he tell us this before the referendum?