The 2016 referendum has generated a lot of discussion. Here are the most interesting thoughts I've come across.
The Brexiteers have called on Remainers to 'accept the result and get on with it'. How many times would the Brexit supporters continue to press for a re-run of the referendum if they had lost the vote? If you lose a vote, there is no law or part of our unwritten constitution that says we must immediately agree with those who won it.
Online voting: We now do our tax returns, voter registration,banking and virtually all communications online, so why can we not vote from the privacy and comfort of our web browser. [Ben Grabiner]
Votes at 16: If you can die for your country then you can choose the leaders that send you to war. There are 1.6 million 16-17 year-olds in the UK, many of whom will be devastated that they had no voice in this referendum that will so fundamentally affect their future. It is time to give them a vote. [Ben Grabiner]
Ask the European Council to develop a EU Associate Citizenship for former members of the EU. We would pay for the priviledge (concessions will apply) and gain some modest advantages like a Schengen visa. An Associate Citizenship fund would allow young British nationals access to the Erasmus+ programmes covering youth, sport and educational exchanges. [Robin Cohen]
The same right-wing papers (Sun, Mail, Express, Star and Telegraph) who supported the Leave vote are now filling their pages with stories of Brexit's impact on the cost of holidays, phone calls, food and coffee. So many lies were told during the campaigns. £350m does not go to the EU every week. We cannot build a new hospital every week with the money. Turkey is not joining the EU. There won't be an EU army. We will have a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Despite some Leave supporters claiming that racial tolerance could increase after Brext, police forces are recording a surge in hate crime since the vote. It is unclear whether the result merely exposed views or overtly legitimised them. But it is telling that many who are being told to 'go home' are often hearing it for the first time - and many of them were born here, this is home to them.
It is unclear how the property market will change. Short term it was already moderating before the vote. In prime central London, one in 20 properties are bought by overseas investors, which helped force up prices, with a ripple on effect countrywide. If these investors see Britain as a less safe money haven, they may disappear and prices will fall. But the vote has made consumers more reluctant to spend on non-essential items. If companies clamp down on workers' pay to save costs in a difficult economic climate, this will affect people's ability to get a mortgage.
The UK digital economy is growing 32% faster than the wider economy and creating jobs 2.8 times faster. Almost 40% of EU 'unicorns' (tech young companies valued at a billion dollars) almost 40% are based in Britain. Nearly one-third of all European venture capital funding consistently comes to the UK. We now have the second highest levels of venture capital invested per capita in the world, after the US. But a survey in the tech sector found that a half say the biggest issue will be hiring and retaining the very best talent - including non-UK staff. And 51% say they plan to raise venture capital outside the UK in the next year.
Advertising guru Richard Huntingdon: 'Vote Leave were far better at making sure they got the response they wanted. Once they had decided on the strategy of confusing the EU (which few of their voters cared about) with immigration (that millions of them did), the job was complete. All Leave needed to do was to make sure enough people believed the EU was the reason for unchecked immigration and they didn't particularly care how they got there.'
Source: pop-up newspaper The New European, issue 15-21 July 2016
