Well neither of those is a good thing.
And some will argue we were able to roll out vaccines quicker by not being in the EU, but we could have done it just as quickly inside…
Was Brexit an attempt to get rid of tourists too, or just the immigrants?
Pretty sure you know the answer to that one. The sheer volume of bad outcomes, completely expected and predicted bad outcomes, is a constant source of grim amusement.
Technically tourists are mostly dirty foreigners.
I think what the article says about the English disregard for the virus in general is spot on; the government is absolving its responsibility to handle the crisis by handing it to the public to decide what they will tolerate, but unfortunately the public are Brits. By mom said growing up in Malta, they had an expression, in the heat of summer midday the only ones out and about were “mad dogs and Englishmen”. Here in the coldest days of winter, the train platform is packed with freezing, shivering people wearing no gloves, hats, mitts, scarves, nothing. Kids are sent to school on damp rainy days in shorts and open shoes. There is a feeling that if something isn’t going to actively attack or kill you, you just gripe a little and move on, even though a few easy measures would make your life better… but that would signal weakness or single yourself out to the herd as doing too much, so you don’t. But yeah, I can see that turn off tourists if the public can’t even bear to wear masks in a crowded train.
She presumably got her phrase about mad dogs and Englishmen from Noel Coward, although the phrase stems from travelogues written in the 18th and 19th century…
What the people voted for and what has been implemented are not the same thing in tourism as in everything else.
I’ve travelled to Spain and Italy in the last month both times there is a separation between the EU and third-country (now with added UK) queues for passports. Coming back through both Heathrow and Stansted neither had the same split.
I’m sure there are many brexiteers that would love to becoming through waving their blue passports and walking past ‘johnny foreigners’ but they don’t get to.
Like so much of the implementation of Brexit it’s about what’s good for the market so they aren’t making it harder for people to come here. The fact that when they arrive the tourist and hospitality industry is really struggling due to them using a lot of EU workers who’ve gone home.
I do think that is very true about putting off tourists. The government basically inferred that the pandemic is over and do what you want. That is unlike anything in mainland Europe
I avoid the tube, which still has compulsory masks. I was forced to use it a few days ago and I’d say 50%, or less, were wearing masks. The same is true of supermarkets.
That contrasts with Italy where everybody is wearing masks. In the 4 or 5 train journeys I took, I don’t think I saw anybody without a mask.
Wait, so Italians have super lungs that can breathe through a mask? Somebody call the CDC!
Except “Project Fear” detailed alot of these outcomes, so in a very real sense, what the people voted for is what has been implemented.
As for tourism, there will be less sting in the tail for a bit because of the massive rise in domestic tourism - started by the pandemic.
Whether that domestic rise stays, or declines, is yet to be seen, but as I type, domestic demand is pretty strong.
“Project Fear” talked about what would happen but that has nothing to do what people voted for…one of the strengths of leave was the ability to be ambiguous.
Leavers had the ability to have voted for anything,… but certainly, they’re not getting the version that included wafting through the fast track waving a blue passport and being greeted with a cheery ‘welcome home, guv’ isn’t happening.
I think domestic tourism will disappear as soon as people realise how easy it is to travel. I’m sure people are put off at the moment by tests but it’s straightforward and the move to lateral flow tests makes it cheaper and quicker. Large families may still be put off but I’m sure there’s a whole flock of people that will want to demonstrate the Englanders’ superiority and tolerance to alcohol to the sunny parts of Spain, Greece and the rest of Europe where they can find a ‘Queen Vic’ next to a beach.
Amazon to stop accepting Visa credit cards, due to Brexit.
(Martin Lewis is a famous UK personal finance journalist)
EDIT to add an actual news source: Amazon to stop accepting UK-issued Visa credit cards | Amazon | The Guardian
The sheep had it coming.
Screw dropping the kids off first. Take them with you, it will be a great life lesson.
They do say we need to reduce meat consumption to help with climate change, so that’s another benefit.
What is interesting is that now that Control was brought back, the UK is less able to send back illegal immigrants. When they were part of the EU they could send these immigrant back to the countries where they entered the EU.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/uk-59257107.amp
In short, it is dubious that Brexit has offered back control of immigration to the UK. The British government has achieved, at an excessive cost, more control of declining inflows from EU countries, but it has lost access to useful EU instruments to control rising inflows from third countries. As the UK had played a leading role in developing the EU instruments to control third-country immigration, one could have expected the UK to keep a close relationship with the EU.
Achievement Unlocked: You’ve Taken Back Control
Missed it by THAT MUCH!