I thought the UK was insignificant?

pwarbi

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For a number of years now the people of the UK, English especially, have been told that as a world power, the UK just isn't all that important anymore and while it might have had significant influence in the past, now it's considered more of a lapdog to the US.

Then the vote to leave the EU comes...all of a sudden, stock markets are crashing all over the world, currency is spiralling out of control, we've got government officials from all over the world in every country saying that the UK could plunge the rest of the world into a recession if we don't sort out our trade deals. Even the US have had to come out and clarify that they will still be trading with us in or out of the EU so nothing as changed on their half...

For a country as insignificant as what we've been told we are, we seemed to have caused a lot of problems and it just makes me wonder that even though we might not be that important in a lot of peoples eyes, the UK can still pack a bit of a punch and all those countries that said before they will only deal with the UK if we remained in the EU, might now be wanting to change their minds I would have thought.

I'd like to ask others, in your opinion why as the UK leaving the EU had this sort of impact on the world economy, and do you think that now the UK as left (or will be doing shortly) will your country be better off cutting it's trade with the UK completely, or negotiating it's own deals regardless of any EU legislation that get's imposed?
 
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Its a short term blip in my view. My take is that markets are overreacting to some degree. The UK itself might have a recession over this, but the US will not. The bigger worry is the collapse of the EU in general. That is far more of a problem.

Trade will continue, markets will stabilize, there will be winners and losers in individual trade deals with the UK, but the US isn't going to be largely impacted in my view. The problem now is that the EU is left with really only one decent economy...Germany.
 
Every time a banker farts, the stock market reacts. It will stabilize, at least in the US. Britain may experience some economic difficulties for a time, but that too shall pass.
 
Data released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) last month, and available to UK institutions via the British Council showed that in 2013/14, international students in UK institutions reached record levels: UK higher education attracts more new international students each year than any other country; 106 nations increased the number of students coming to the UK; new enrolments grew by five percent compared to 2012/13; and the UK now hosts international students equivalent in number to four times the revellers at Glastonbury Festival.

I was one of those international students in the UK and Britain's global influence is built on its education. Britain has Oxbridge and America has Harvard and MIT. Brexit's economic impact in the UK economy is minimal as long as Britain keeps a free trade deal with the EU. But geopolitically speaking, the EU was weakened and divided by Brexit, which was a historical watershed comparable to the fall of the Soviet Union.
 
pwarbi. Britain is no longer the leading world power but it is significant. It is one of the two strongest economies in Europe. Its leaving will weaken the Eu. It might lead to other countries leaving.
Butthe EU will recover. It still has 27 members. All are join by land to one another unlike Britain which has a sea separating them from Europe.
Australia will still trade with EU amdd Britain
 
I also don't believe that the UK is insignificant, that's just what we have constantly been told over a number of years. Now I'm not some little Englander that believes we're the best country in the world and the UK can do now wrong, far from it and we have a lot to learn and have made many mistakes. Leaving the EU though in my opinion isn't one of them and I think it will enhance our status in the world rather than be detrimental to it.

The stock market is back to the level it was already before the brexit vote, but the currency is still a huge concern and if it carries on losing value then it's in danger of losing it's reserve currency status and that will be bad for more than just the UK. While the leave vote was going to have a negative impact in the short term and it has, the long term damage that could have been avoided was done before the vote as even cast, as the speculation and scaremongering had already put the markets in a state of unease and when the leave vote did get announced, everyone believed that it was the end of the world like they'd been warned it would be by the remain campaigners.

They might be blaming the people for voting to leave, but in my opinion they have done just the same amount of damage if not more, and it's them who are to blame largely for the way things have gone since the vote.
 
The UK has the second largest economy in Europe behind Germany. The UK shares language and cultural ties with nations all over the world. UK universities and colleges are among the best in the world. As an American I believe that the UK is very significant. What happens in the UK matters, even here.
 
I'm English, and never thought the UK was insignificant, but know it's not on par with Russia or China. It has an influence as London is a major city, but also English is the lingua franca of the business world.

Why people are shocked (I wasn't ) is that it got used to the UK being in the EU not realizing the struggles it had; these smaller domestic issues where the UK fought the EU were never big headline stories. Reading the New York Time headlines the Americans seem to report that the UK has collapsed. It hasn't. My family in Canada and the US call to see how bad it is, it's not great, but it will stabilize once we have party leaders in place.

The fact is the EU did need the UK, not just for the money, but also the political power. Now they are going to make the divorce difficult because they didn't want it.
 
The UK has the second largest economy in Europe behind Germany. The UK shares language and cultural ties with nations all over the world. UK universities and colleges are among the best in the world. As an American I believe that the UK is very significant. What happens in the UK matters, even here.
The UK is a major and important whether or not it is a part of the EU.

Now, if only they'd quit driving on the wrong side of the road.....
 
Lots of English people voted leave because they hope it will lead to less immigration.England is one of the most densely populated nations in the world.It bears the brunt of immigration,It's not a big issue in Scotland or Northern Ireland.Most Scottish voters want to stay in the EU,so this could lead to Scottish independence.Most voters in Northern Ireland want to stay in the EU,so this could lead to a united Ireland.This would lead to the break up of the UK.Effectively,Wales,Ireland,Scotland and England will become independent countries.I can hardly wait its going to be great.Now excuse me Mr.President I'm off for a full English Brexit.
 
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My family in the US and Canada contacted us when Brexit happened as they saw their pension plans lose value. That's when people really realized that the stock market and Brexit would have a worldwide effect.

Now the problem seems to be what will be negotiated? Free movement must stop or additional criteria put in place because that is what people want and it's not racist, but the country cannot cope with the additional population and to provide services for them. It's not only about jobs, but culture too.
 
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