Referendum

The graph is actually 6 months out of date but it makes the point anyway. Not sure much has changed in that time.

Oh Nonnie,

What a question.

The British pound was considered to be overvalued when we went into Brexit but the drop is considerably greater than that.

The political uncertainty has impacted on the pound's value and the sooner we have some clarity the better. Forecasts say that the pound will rise after Brexit but I share your view on forecasts!

Trisher, our economy is rising at the same rate as that of the EU.

Economists say that the housing market was greatly inflated and we are seeing the result of that. Personally, I think this is a good thing as it may make buying a house a possibility for next generations.

House prices are falling not increasing
Not in all areas and perhaps they were over-priced in the SE anyway.
House prices are increasing around here so it must be area-dependent.

There are contradictory headlines here:
www.theguardian.com/money/houseprices

Can you link me to an informed critique of this report, please, Lynn?

This 2014 report and its data has now been discredited so probably not worth discussing in 2018.

the British economy has powered ahead of most of its EU rivals.

Whatever are you quoting from? The UK growth rate is the lowest in the EU.
This is just one look at the data:

www.statista.com/statistics/263008/gdp-growth-in-eu-countries-compared-to-same-quarter-previous-year/

unemployment has fallen

Pretty easy to fiddle those figures as a person is considered as 'employed' if they work for one hour or more a week. Along with this wonderful 'full employment' we have 4 million people living in poverty and a huge increase in the use of food banks. I find this all very difficult to reconcile.
It is also frequently noted that the population is carrying a huge amount of personal debt. This is not sustainable and will be disastrous for many if interest rates were to rise.

Our economy is not healthy and with current and future Brexit related job losses and companies pulling out of the UK the future looks appalling.

I just need you to tell me that we'll be fine on WTO rules...

I really think that you Leavers are living in a parallel universe. Or you're just very gullible...

You are right Jalima.

As always, these things are multifactorial and we can't take bits out of reports and cite them as there is always another statistic.

Here in the SE, a one bedroomed flat can be more than £200K and most young people can't possible afford that.

Quote.

"I really think that you Leavers are living in a parallel universe. Or you're just very gullible..."

Maizie,

Earlier, you accused me of being emotional - which I reject - but I hope I haven't been insulting.

You haven't just insulted me but also the vast majority of the population the UK who voted Leave.

I wonder what the other Leavers on this forum think of your comments?

I have friends and family who voted Remain and we all discuss the situation but we do it with respect and consideration for another view. Not insults.

I shall just toddle off to my parallel universe and ignore you.

MaisieD We import more goods and services from the EU than we export to them - that is a simple fact and has nothing to do with our contributions to the EU budget and what we get back in subsidies or for certain projects in the UK. Does anyone seriously think that we will stop trading with the EU after Brexit? We are one of their biggest markets, and one which they do not want to lose.

We are not going to stop importing from EU after Brexit - it will just cost us far more and will be much slower.

Lynne1 Just a reminder from a remainer ..the majority of the people did not vote to leave.

Of the approx. 65,000,000 people eligible to vote only 17,410,742 actually voted to leave. That makes it
47,589,258 who prefer to remain or who did not express a view!
Just saying!

or just couldn't be bothered or were not old enough.

In fact in December 2016 there were 45,766,000 eligible voters.

I took my figures from a gov website. It was based on eligibility at time of referendum so yes since then more young people will have become eligible .. not sure of their voting intentions or of the folk who have died since then though!

Lynn1 "The British pound was considered to be overvalued when we went into Brexit but the drop is considerably greater than that." Who considered that? Isn't that one of the things some said to wriggle out of admitting it was because of Brexit? Otherwise how do we explain the timing?

"The political uncertainty has impacted on the pound's value and the sooner we have some clarity the better. Forecasts say that the pound will rise after Brexit but I share your view on forecasts!" I absolutely agree that it is the political uncertainty that has caused the £ to drop but, again, it is only some forcasters who have suggested it will rise after Brexit. How could anyone with even half a brain forecast the result of the current crisis when there it, thankfully, no precedent?

"Economists say that the housing market was greatly inflated and we are seeing the result of that". They say that every time the market goes down and the reverse every time it goes up. Same with the FTSE usually but I haven't heard them say that this time. Now they seem to blame the US/China situation. It is a fact that the London housing market has gone down but most of the rest of the country has gone up.

As of November 2018 the average house price in the UK is £230,630, and the index stands at 120.96. Property prices have fallen by 0.1% compared to the previous month, and risen by 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is normal to expect a slow down to start in November and pick up again in the Spring.

OOps didn't mean to cross that through, meant to italicise it. Sorry

65,000,000 people eligible to vote
I thought that was the approximate total population at that time.

Hi Nonnie,

It was the IMF in 2015.

I am no expert on the vagaries of the housing market but I do remember the last time the bottom dropped out of it and folks were left with negative equity and unable to move house as they didn't have enough money to bridge the gap.

Bit out of date then Lynn1. Since the big housing crash rules have changed, lenders are no longer allowed to give mortgages people cannot afford. That should reduce the number in negative equity next time but we are not there yet. I think a lot of people moved before we are supposed to be leaving and a lot have put off their move to see what happens. I would be very surprised if the market were to go up while there is so much uncertainty, think this will be a bad year for house sales.

The figures are:

Total Electorate: 46,500,001
Turnout: 72.2%
Rejected Ballots: 25,359

The turnout was far higher than usual for a General Election.
There was a record number of people who had never voted before registering to vote so, clearly, it was felt that this vote was important.

Sorry.. highlighted the wrong line... still not the majority of people in UK being 'insulted' which was the point of the post!

Probably completely out of date Nonnie! I did confess to lack of knowledge.

What worries me is the number of people who have mortgages with minuscule rates of interest. I fear for them if rates go up as they did in the 70s and there is another crash with houses being repossessed.

We bought at 8% and, in a short space of time the rate doubled and then settled at 13% . It was tough at the time.

The things I can do with a pound of mince! LOL.

Hi PECS,

I see it was a little ambiguous but I meant the majority of those who voted leave would be insulted by being called gullible and living in a parallel universe.

The ones who didn't vote Leave or didn't vote would have no reason to feel 'put down'.

Hope that explains what I was trying to say.

I respect other people's views and I want to hear them but without being insulted (of course not by you).

To add a little humour to the pot, I've seen 2 different photos of her maj and TM on Fb today, both have this speech bubble "Well you've really messed it up now. Shall I ask Philip to drive you home?"

Thanks Nonnie.

It made me smile.

I’ve seen one of TM with the caption:
The kind of negotiator to come out of DFS with a full price sofa.

I find most of them funny because none of it is believable. If you had seen it as a TV drama you would never have considered it credible.

On a more serious note I can't get over all the people who base their opinion on things in the past which have no bearing on the likely outcome of this fiasco. Why does one drunk man influence the way to vote? Someone on World at One yesterday said that he expected that after the vote we would leave within a few days. Unbelievable, how does the BBC find them?

Voted leave, still would.