Monday 9 January 2017

All change in Europe?



I have several British friends who live in other EU states. Two couples are coming back to the UK. One couple went to live in France on 27 June 2016. Interesting timing! Another friend has said she never wants to live in the UK again. It looks quite even then. 

There doesn’t seem to be a major exit of nationals of other EU states wanting to get out before it becomes difficult. However, there are fewer applying for the vacant posts. Two nationals form other EU states I know who live and work in England are applying for British citizenship. It means giving up their original nationality. Harsh. Those who are concerned about immigration may cheer but I worry about the skills deficit.
Wasn’t Holby City glorious the week before last? Silent Witness was good last week, too.  Good old Aunty seems to have rallied. 

You see, it’s not just tit for tat. The returning ex-pats are mainly the dreaded baby-boomers. (We’re such a nuisance aren’t we? Still, we can’t help what parents got up to in the 1950s and 60s. We’ve paid a hell of a lot of tax, by the way, and paid up to 15% on our mortgages and other loans.)  At least they’ll be spending their pensions within the UK. However, they certainly won’t be replacing the skills that are lost if we lose our EU workers. They’ll likely as well to put a strain on the NHS. Not only will they be old, they won’t be so used to the cold so they’ll get ill more easily. 

Scotland still looks as if it’s making a real effort to stay in the EU. Shall we go and live in Scotland? But what about Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and Winchester?        

May and her crew still talk about hard and soft Brexit. How arrogant. “We” have “decided” to leave the club. It’s up to the club to decide what sort of relationship it wants to have with us. We really have no say in this. Let’s hope they’re kind to us and reach out to those of us who never wanted to go.

Of course, it may all become totally insignificant. Extraordinary things are happening on the other side of the pond.      

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