Agree with you Pete. I have yet to see a convincing, coherent, fact-based argument for leaving the EU and how we will be better off economically, scientifically, academically and even culturally as a result.
I have seen plenty of scare stories about Maastricht treaty and what will happen from 2020 onwards if we were to stay (EU Army, have to adopt the Euro, lose our veto etc etc). All have been debunked. All are more project fear than the original project fear itself! The EU army bit always makes me laugh, have we forgotten that we're part of NATO and already do their (or should I say the US') bidding?
I also see that non-EU immigration is up(from the bit we have ALWAYS had sovereign control over), whilst EU immigration is at an all time low. I have never had a particular issue with immigration (at least not one that could be specifically blamed on the EU) - many who voted leave did. Am I the only one to see the irony here?
I also see that the good old US of A have published their opening gambit for a US/UK trade deal and (shock, horror!!) it includes reducing food standards and removing tariffs, which poses a significant risk to the UK food and other industry, not to mention the NHS. How far should we bend over, Uncle Sam?
The country is already crippled by Brexit and has been for most of the last 2 years. The amount of resource in the public sector that has been diverted and is actively working on Brexit and the contingency planning required is eye-watering and scandalous. And lest we forget, this is just working on the initial exit and interim arrangements, let alone the longer term relationship and deals that we will need. So expect masses of public sector resource tied up in that for most of the next decade, with you and I the good old tax payer funding the lot, whilst vital services are neglected and slashed yet further. All at a time when the economy will be weaker (no denying that now) and the tax revenue will be lower as a result....great!
And finally on the ridiculous concept of "taking back control" Can anybody honestly say that they WANT to give more control to the shower of incompetents who have been running this sh!tshow for the last 2 years? Because that is EXACTLY what taking back control will do. I would far rather have the collective talent of 28 states making decisions that benefit ALL of us than some 2-bit career politicians in Westminster whose own ambition is king.
Not to mention the civil servants who will be expected to take up the strain and do the real work, (un-elected bureaucrats in Brexiteer speak
) whilst still being expected to stomach below cost of living wage rises, adding to the decade of it they've already endured, unlike their lords and masters in parliament I hasten to add.
The more I think about it, the more I realise that the 2016 vote really did put the dum in referendum.