Brexit, Day One: What has actually changed today?

Real ale fans and Piers Morgan enthusiasts partied long into Friday night: Brexit is officially happening, and Britain begins the process of leaving the EU today, on Saturday 1 February. Much like starting a new diet on the weekend, the decision to withdraw on a Friday night seems like a bit of a waste…

First day of Brexit: What has changed on Saturday?

Brits are asking each other what will actually change on Saturday. Will things cost more? Will EU residents have to leave now? Will they have to replace Gino D’Acampo with Jim Davidson on telly? The answer to all three of those questions is no. In fact, only a few things have changed after Friday night:

• The UK has no more Members of European Parliament, and no ability to influence European law.
• Britain is now allowed to negotiate trade deals with other institutions outside of the EU for the first time.
• Britain no longer has access to the European Arrest Warrant, which allows EU members to detain criminals from their fellow block partners without having to gain extradition arrests.

OK, so what happens now?

That’s about it. We’re not being facetious. That comes later. Britain has essentially made itself a rule-taker, rather than a rule-maker for the next 11 months: The country is still subject to EU laws and policy during this “transitional negotiation period”, meaning that the infamous bid to regain sovereignty has tripped at the first hurdle. Indeed, claims that we have “taken back control” should be muted for the rest of the year.

The race has not been run yet, though. But the UK is going into this marathon completely exhausted. It is drained of enthusiasm, it’s depleted in its reserves of sympathy, and many people are long past caring what’s actually going on. Those who still wearily say “Brexit means Brexit” have become as devoid as the ideology itself.

Brexit is the culture war that has divided Britain in half. Or at least, by 52 – 48. It’s my true belief that a large number of people voted for leave with the right intentions, but for all the wrong reasons. Towns like Grimsby and Sunderland – the beating heart of our fishing and manufacturing industries – are going to get battered by the economic uncertainty which follows. Yet these are locations that heavily backed leaving the EU.

Who will be hit worst by Brexit?

I lived in Grimsby for a few years. It has a fantastic community spirit across its villages and towns. But it has also been cut-off by callous governments and sneering politicians. There has been a reduction in work up at Immingham Docks, and traditional industries have been left floundering. In 2016, what choice did Grimsby have but to try something else? It’s just a shame they were lead so merrily up the garden path.

People say that it’s been a bad thing, waiting almost four years to leave the EU. I don’t see it that way. It has shifted total ownership onto the party who have had more than 40 months to sort this out. Brexit certainly lost Labour the election in December 2019, and it has the potential to do the same to Boris Johnson in 2024.

The country, quite emphatically, has said to the Conservatives: “Do what you’ve promised you will do”. The problem is, Brexit is one of the most complicated legal minefields one could wish to negotiate. And the party have done an exceptionally lousy job of managing it so far. To get this right, They need to produce an 11-month turnaround more impressive than Leicester City’s run in 2015/16 to win the Premier League.

Can Boris ride the Brexit wave?

Perhaps it wasn’t the best election to win for Boris. But his sweeping majority will be able to help him paper over any cracks. The truth is, as a remain voter, I made my peace with Brexit long ago. I genuinely believe that it could have been something very positive with the right people in charge. Sadly, we’ve been treated to a comedy of errors that cannot be pinned on anyone else bar the government.

Of course, the same bitter arguments and cavernous divides will still be with us on Saturday. Remainers will unfairly label leavers stupid, leavers will erroneously blame remainers for any downsides to Brexit because they “didn’t believe in Britain enough”. Nothing really changes tomorrow. And it probably won’t until December.

No matter what happens, the UK will come through this upheaval. Leaving the EU isn’t enough to topple the sixth-richest country in the world. But it also cannot be denied that the wounds we have suffered so far have all been self-inflicted. A majority of us would not mind fighting adversity – many British people thrive on that “bulldog” image – but it’s extremely demotivating knowing that we’ve put ourselves in such an awkward position.

“Look after yourselves”

The country will survive. Life will go on. It’s leaving a trade bloc, at the end of the day. But millions of people cannot afford any more damaging decisions which hurt local businesses. The big cities and home counties will continue like its business of usual. But it’s the Grimsbys and the Sunderlands, once more, who are one badly-negotiated contract item away from seeing a local industry collapse.

The fundamental problem with all this? It’s the refusal by many to accept that a major decision which rewrites our major trade agreements do have knock-on affects. Sadly, there are plenty of Brits who don’t see past the scope of their own situation. If they’re alright, it’s a case of “to hell with the rest of them”. Fishing towns and manufacturing hubs simply aren’t important enough to make them think twice about this decision.

And that is our Brexit future in a nutshell. Britain is telling everyone else to look after themselves, because we reckon we’ll be alright ourselves. And yet, that attitude is the one winning over the majority. Go figure!

Come on then BoJo. Show us a Leicester, would you?