LONDON — British voters head to the polls Thursday for their first general election outside the European Union. But in so many ways, the Brexit dream has already died.

All the key Vote Leave characters have left the stage. Five years after winning a landslide election Boris Johnson is out of parliament, making millions from speeches and newspaper columns. Michael Gove has quit politics rather than suffer life in opposition. Dominic Cummings spends his time writing blogs about Dostoevsky, TikTok and the CIA.

As the architects of Britain’s departure from the EU contemplate a decade out of power, the country they envisaged during the 2016 referendum campaign looks further away than ever.

https://archive.is/968oz

Checks on food arriving at Dover will be carried out on the outskirts of Ashford When checks on food entering the UK from the EU begin on Tuesday, lorries will have to drive 22 miles from Dover to border control posts at Sevington on the outskirts of Ashford. Anyone found to be carrying unsafe or contaminated food could be asked to turn around and drive back again. The government has not explained how lorries will be monitored between the port and its control post, or how it will ensure goods that have been identified as unsafe leave the country.

Thanks, Brexit.

archive link: https://archive.is/ZYSRV

Drop in goods imports and exports attributed to Brexit by economists

Local Somerset farmers such as him voted for Brexit in large numbers, hoping for a more even playing field. They feel disappointed.

Under the original policy, shoppers from overseas were eligible to claim VAT refunds unless they were EU residents. Post-Brexit, the government judged it would have to be expanded to EU visitors. But tax-free shopping was scrapped in 2020. A Treasury analysis in 2022 suggested that the policy’s reinstatement would cost £2bn in 2025/26. Yet direct costs only tell half the story. Firstly, the average VAT refund would not be the same for EU and non-EU visitors. Global Blue, the Swiss payments company, has previously estimated the average refund for EU visitors in comparable markets can be up to 63 per cent lower.  Fresh analysis must also take account of behavioural effects — the extent to which lower trip costs might encourage more visitors and spending. In 2022, the average tourist would have saved 4.2 per cent on their total spending in the UK had the scheme existed, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research. It suggests that this could spur a 5.4 per cent increase in overseas tourist numbers. Applied to 2022 numbers, that would mean an additional 1.7mn visitors.

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This is really a weird documentary. It is matter-of-fact, not really mocking but still... you watch it and are always close to laughing or crying. The whole thing is just too stupid.

But then... Norway and Switzerland are doing something very similiar. They have voted for "We want all rights and obligations of the EU but no voting rights."

You really can not make up how stupid populism is. And how much more stupid its voters are.

The Guardian can reveal Transport for London (TfL) has been accused by five EU countries of illegally obtaining the names and addresses of their citizens in order to issue the fines, with more than 320,000 penalties, some totalling thousands of euros, sent out since 2021...

Since Brexit, the UK has been banned from automatic access to personal details of EU residents. Transport authorities in Belgium, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands have confirmed to the Guardian that driver data cannot be shared with the UK for enforcement of London's ultra-low emission zone (Ulez), and claim registered keeper details were obtained illegally by agents acting for TfL's contractor Euro Parking Collection. In France, more than 100 drivers have launched a lawsuit claiming their details were obtained fraudulently, while Dutch lorry drivers are taking legal action against TfL over £6.5m of fines they claim were issued unlawfully.

According to the Belgian MP Michael Freilich, who has investigated the issue on behalf of his constituents, TfL is treating European drivers as a "cash cow" by using data obtained illegitimately to issue unjustifiable fines.

Freilich describes the situation as "possibly one of the largest privacy and data breaches in EU history," according to the article.

Some drivers have even received penalties of up to five-figure sums — for compliant vehicles which had simply not yet been registered. And "some low-emission cars have been misclassed as heavy goods diesel vehicles and fined under the separate low-emission zone scheme, which incurs penalties of up to £2,000 a day."

Abstract credit: https://slashdot.org/story/424244

Im so glad we left the EU so we could negotiate trade deals. We’re so good at negotiating!

🤡🤡🤡

Thanks brexit

Prof. Chris Grey @ChrisGrey - "The Brexit self-punishment machine " - https://chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-brexit-self-punishment-machine.html
@brexit #brexit #ukpolitics

Businesses busted by Brexit ballsup - https://chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/an-autumn-statement-of-britains.html 😬
#brexit @brexit @ChrisGrey

Experts warn UK’s regulations now lag behind those of the EU and that Britons will be exposed to more toxic chemicals as a result