The UK is now once again an independent country

At 11 pm UK time (midday here) the United Kingdom has finally left the European Union and become a fully sovereign and independent country again.

At the time of the referendum I was almost on the fence. There were both benefits and detriments to the UK being in the EU. The ability for people in the UK to visit, live or work anywhere in the EU was massive. The ability to have skilled EU citizens work in the UK was great for businesses. The free trade zone within the EU is hugely beneficial.

But there were four big detriments. They were:

1. The EU being able to pass laws and regulations that are binding on the UK. While regulatory consistency over the continent has advantages, the EU was regulation mad and many of their regulations were overkill.
2. The EU itself is not a very democratic body. The EU Parliament has few powers. Appointed Commissioners have huge power. It was very difficult to reform the EU and make positive change as it was almost resistant to the popular vote.
3. The inability to control your borders and have any say in how many people can migrate (or seek refuge in) the UK was huge. You can be very much pro immigration, but still want secure borders and the ability to do what NZ does and say you need to have certain skills to migrate here.
4. The loss of sovereignty where EU judges could strike down laws passed by the UK Parliament and supported by the UK public.

Overall due to No 4 especially, I would have been very mildly pro-Brexit if I was in the UK. That one trumps the considerable benefits of EU membership.

Since the UK voted to leave though, I have been appalled by the antics of the remainers (or remoaners) who spent years trying to sabotage the referendum result by insisting Parliament had to approve the exit agreement and then voting down every possible combination of exit agreement.

I went from mildly pro-Brexit to diehard Brexit must happen. I was worried it would never happen.

But then Boris came along. And all credit to him. He got the EU to modify the exit agreement despite them spending years saying they wouldn’t. And then as the remoaners blocked him in Parliament, he called their bluff, got an election and won a huge majority.

So once again the United Kingdom is a sovereign and independent country that can make its own laws, and decide who can live there. There will be some negative impacts from exiting the EU, but they won’t be as great as the doom mongers claimed in their scare campaign.

Congratulations to my UK friends, especially Matthew Elliott, who were an essential part of the campaign for independence. I’m sure you will be enjoying quite a few drinks tonight.