>>The result was really a vote for a compromise,
I don't really think that it was., that's the problem. It was evenly split across incompatible desires.
Of all the many problems it started with the referendum being badly defined. It never established anything beyond an in/out decision and never explained what either 'in' or 'out' were.
Consequently, as happens with vacuums, everybody has their own understanding of what they were.
Our position with the EU was wrong, and it was going to go wronger. Had there been a "fix from the inside" vote, that would have been mine. I could have happily accepted a "leave but retain x,y, and x" Consequently neither a flat 'stay as we are' nor an absolute "leave everything" worked for me. And there must be many people kind of where I am that then fell one side of the fence or the other because the options we wanted were not there.
So we have the absolute leavers, those who tend towards leave, the absolute remainers and those who tend towards remain who all voted the way they did for different reasons with their own 'customised' understanding of what they were voting for.
Consequently whatever situation is arrived at, which ever side of and however far from the middle, far more of the country will be unhappy than will be happy. Far, far, more.
I do think though that if we arrange a deal, and it is almost unimportant what the details of that deal are, that as long as it comes with a lengthy transition period then everything will rebalance.
I think a transition period needs to be 3 years. Also it would be better if different areas had different transition periods to stop the media focus on one explosive end date.
I think the Government (any Government) needs to keep out of it as much as they can, and the vast majority will be dealt with by the relevant commercial concerns.
The border arrangements, territorial agreements, shared healthcare, validity of the ECJ and immigration are all that the Government can really fix themselves. [no doubt I've forgotten something] The rest will get fixed by the commercial world given sufficient time.
However, 'fixed' is likely, in most cases, to be a lot less favourable than being in the EU.
So I don't think the vote was for compromise, desperately though we need it. Understanding, open-mindedness and visibility are what we need now.
The sooner this period from now 'till March is over the better.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 8 Nov 18 at 11:30
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