Brexidus; movement of the people

Brexidus has begun, the mass movement of EU citizens moving from the sunlit uplands of a potential post-EU Britain back to Europe. We have to ask, how did it come to this? Applications from the EU for nursing vacancies down 96%? Well, you only have to listen to the Brexiteers and the their cheerleaders in the press, and that no one, no one is questioning the thought that free movement of people is bad. When it is good, even for Britain.

Free movement means people have come here to work, live, pay taxes, support the NHS and other social programs, without them, there would be less taxes to pay for those that need care. They pay taxes to enable all the other things that Britain needs; new roads, railways, paying of the DUP; and without them, their tax monies vanishes as well. And those jobs remain unfilled, those taxes go unpaid, meaning less tax pounds for the Government and local authorities to spend, meaning that there will be more cuts or those that live here will have to pay more.

Have to pay more as corporations also will want to pay less tax for staying here; without the support of the EU, Britain would just have to accept whatever terms a multi-national company wanted so they would stay in post-Brexit Britain. Meaning less money from their taxes which will either result in more cuts to social sending or the rest of us that have jobs, pay more in taxes. I thought that there was nothing but good news in Brexit-world. Having cake and eating it.

Already Airbus is concerned about it's supply chain; wings for it's airplanes are made in the UK, employing 10,000 people directly and another 100,000 indirectly. All those jobs could go without agreement on tariffs and non-tariffs.

This week the Government decided to spend £1 billion on a bribe to the DUP to keep itself in power, in what is described as a supply and confidence agreement, which is not a coalition, oh no. In return, the DUP will support the Government on important cotes, like voting down amendments giving public sector workers a pay rise above the 1% they have had since 2010. So the brave men and women of the London Fire Brigade and their colleagues around the country, the police and security services who put their lives on the line and have received our thanks in the last two months for being there during some dreadful events. Thanks but you're not worth any more money, as there is no magic money tree, but there is for the DUP and Northern Ireland.

And where is the opposition on this and Brexit? At least they voted against the Government on the public sector pay rise, but an amendment to try to keep Britain in the Single Market was defeated, then Corbyn sacked three front like shadow ministers for disobeying the whip. This from a politician who hardly ever followed the party line when he was a backbencher. So, there is really no difference in the position of the Government of the opposition party on Brexit; leave the EU, the Single Market and Customs Union. He is playing the long game, we are told, will change his position when public opinion is clearly against Brexit; by that time he will have run out of people to make shadow ministers, and with the Article 50 clock having nearly ticked down, we could crash out of the EU with no deal at all. And when the left wing of the Labout Party speaks against free movement, then you really know we have crossed into Wonderland.

God help us all.

Finally, let me tackle the lie that the EU might in some way want to "punish Britain: it was Britain that voted to leave, so that everything that comes our way will be all of our fault. Of course, how, as a country, we came to vote for Brexit, is another matter, but all the while, the Article 50 clock is ticking, and if we don't reach agreements on UK/EU Expat rights and the financial settlement, then nothing else can be decided, and unless we get the EU 27 to agree to pause or cancel the notification, then we leave the EU anyway. Imagine starting a process with so many risks not knowing whether it could be stopped. Yes, imagine that!