Post Brexit: From chaos to calamity?

Brexit chaos

This is a topic very close to the heart of executive english as two of us are Brits living in Germany. Since the referendum on the 23rd June 2016 I’ve been living on a knife edge – not sure which way this would all go. I’ve moved from feeling utterly unwanted by compatriots to hating everyone who voted for Brexit to utter shock, sadness and despair. Now, I have dual citizenship. It took a year to get from the decision to ‘do it’, to accepting my certificate at the Landratsamt of Erding: It’s helped to make me feel as if I belong but I won’t deny it – it’s been an emotional roller-coaster (and it still is – hence the “present perfect” indicating it’s not over yet.) 

Since 1st January 2021, we are now living in a post-Brexit era and seeing the consequences, of which there are many that we, Joe-Public (and business), were not prepared for. Here’s just some of the past headlines: 

1. ‘Small and medium sized businesses have seen negative price changes in their supply chains since leaving the EU’

2. ‘A majority…..have seen post-Brexit complications with both exporting and importing.’

3. ‘Allegedly exports going from the UK to EU countries via British ports were down 68%.’

4. ‘The once simple business of selling into Europe is now a matter of huge complexity.’

5. ‘There is absolutely no benefit right now in us trading with Europe.’ 

6. Move to EU to avoid Brexit costs, firms told by Department for International Trade Officials

7. Brexit shellfish delays leave Scottish seafood rotting.

8. UK to appeal to individual European countries over arts touring ‘crisis’ -

Brexit calamity

So where’s it going to go from here. As a Guardian reader perhaps I only read the negative side of Brexit as they are staunch Europe supporters, but I cannot help but think nothing good for the UK or Brits abroad comes from Brexit (in addition to the fact I have not been able to order anything in January and February from the British Corner Shop!). Thank goodness we are now a sovereign nation because that makes all this justified. (sarcasm!!!!!!).

• Imagine when I read in the FT: Amsterdam surpassed London as Europe’s largest trading centre in January as the Netherlands scooped up business lost by the UK since Brexit.
• Then, Beth my colleague here at executive english said that perhaps English should lose its status as a ‘Lingua Franca’ within the European parliament. Wow! Massive – I thought.  That can’t happen….can it? Back in 2016 an MEP was quoted saying “if we don’t have the UK, we don’t have English”. Even after Brexit, at 44%, English is still the most spoken language across the 27 remaining (sensible) nations. German is spoken by 36%, French 29%, Italian at 18% and Spanish at 17%. Sadly the number of native speakers of English is now….1%! There’s good news though. Should the movement to remove English come up again then it would need a unanimous vote from the European Council. Phew!
• Then there’s ERASMUS. At this stage I’ll hand over to the European Union website. As I think they say it pretty clearly: “The UK is no longer an EU Member State. It has also opted not to take part as an associated third country in the new Erasmus+ programme 2021-27. The UK will therefore not be taking part in the new programme as a Programme Country. The European Commission regrets this decision by the United Kingdom.

Regrets, regrets, this is a calamity! Why should the next generation suffer for the sins of their fathers. So I’m going to walk away from this blog now.

Keep an eye out for the podcast that accompanies this article – Brexit: 10 things that will never be the same.  

Vocabulary

calamity – a sudden, bad event that causes a lot of damage or unhappiness.

referendum – the people of a country vote on a political question.

To live on a knife edge – to live in a situation where we are not sure what is going to happen next.

utterly – completely.

compatriots – people who come from the same country.

citizenship – the legal right to be a citizen of a country.

roller coaster – exciting ride at a play park. A very fast and scary train that goes up and down steep slopes.

consequence – the result of an action or situation, often a bad result.

Joe Public – a generic name used to denote the 'common man or woman', in the UK. In this case. 

complications – something that makes a situation more difficult

allegedly – believed to be true, but not proved.

rotting – going off! Decaying.

staunch – very loyal in your support for someone or something.

sovereign – completely independent state or country.

justified – fair or having good reason

sarcasm – the lowest form of wit according to Oscar Wilde

Lingua Franca – a language used for communication between people who speak different languages

unanimous – everyone agrees on the same thing.

associated – connected with

suffer for the sins of their fathers – children often suffer for the wrong doings of their fathers/parents.