Countdown to Brexit - what's the latest?

We don't normally allow posts that are not about the current issue, but we have made an exception for Brexit, as the UK is due to leave the European Union at midnight on 31st October (BUT on Saturday Parliament voted for a law to say Boris Johnson had asked for an extension to the deadline)
What's happened so far?
For everything you need to know about what's happened so far, including how the country voted for it, why Parliament rejected of Theresa May's deal, and what Boris Johnson is trying to do differently - take a look at this page from the BBC website!
What's the latest?
Leaders in the European Union have just agreed an extension to the Brexit deadline - to 31st January 2020. This comes as Parliament has agreed to a general election on 12th December. Prime Minster Boris Johnson hopes that winning the election will increase the number of Conservative MPs, making his Brexit plans easier to achieve.
You can find a really simple guide to the election here!
What can I do?
Comment below to give your thoughts, opinions or questions on Brexit. We will keep this page open as the deadline draws nearer!
Comments (43)
16 Oct 2019
Hi Tom! I am personally not a huge supporter of Brexit and find the countdown terrifyingly short. I can't really see how we are going to turn back now but I still think it is entirely wrong. Very soon, it will become harder for many to travel to countries in the EU and the UK will have more trouble trading between countries. Thank you so much for putting this up as it has been going on for so long I really haven't been keeping up with it.
I agree and disagree with you . The public voted for Brexit therefore David Cameron stepped down as he was in shock that the public voted to leave the EU. This then lead to Treasa May stepping up even she couldn't handle it . Now, we have Boris Johnson as our prime minster . I believe that we should have the chance to vote for who we want to lead us through Brexit . Democracy is all about power to the people but nobody is getting any power to vote. we were just given Boris Johnson and we now have to except it .
How is this fair ?
Was 'shock' the only reason David Cameron resigned as Prime Minister?
No , I think it was also because he couldn’t handle it . It mostly a mixture of both stress and shock .
Tom, here's the information I have gathered:
David Cameron resigned, which brings a sudden end to his six-year premiership after the British public took a critical decision to reject his pleas and turn their back on the European Union. A year after, he confirmed a surprise majority in the general election, a clearly emotional Cameron standing beside his wife outside number 10 on a Friday morning with his wife quoted: “The will of the British people is an instruction that must be delivered.” David Cameron campaigned hard in the divisive polls on Britains relationship with the EU, appearing at most of the public events being held up and down the country to quarrel that Brexit would be apart of the "Economic self-harm." But a frustrated voter used the poll to reject the quo and shocked at the narrow win of leave by 52% after polls had wanted a move towards a comfortable margin for remain in the final few days of campaigning.
Overall, it was stress and shock that made him in his current state.
Thank you for reading.
16 Oct 2019
Hi Tom,I am not much of a supporter for BREXIT and am not surprised that they will continue to extend the BREXIT deadline furthermore if Boris Johnson does not agree on a deal with Brussels. I am hoping this will be the last meeting with the other European countries ministers as there has been too much news of this continuous problem. I am not surprised that his own government party does not put there full trust in Boris fulfilling his promise to the public of London.
16 Oct 2019
I doubt that Brexit will actually happen on the 31st of October.
As of right now, Boris Johnson has just over 15 days to come up with a deal and have it accepted by parliament too. The whole process could take months and if Brexit is going to happen on the 31st of October then months aren't doable, we will probably have to prolong this mess until the 31st of January 2020.
Unless we have a 2nd referendum, Brexit is still definitely going to happen. I think that if we miraculously had a 2nd referendum the majority vote would be against Brexit, however we didn't need to have a referendum in the 1st place.
Many people blame Theresa May or Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage however I believe the blame belongs to David Cameron, who many have forgotten about, he didn't need to hold a referendum and allowed himself to be bullied into it by Nigel Farage.
16 Oct 2019
Hey Tom! Thanks for giving us a heads up! In my opinion, I give no support for Brexit. I mean, what’s the point? This could effect companies that buy products from the EU. It’s going to be challenging for then. I know they are going to make it. People are all over Brexit but don’t bother about Climate change. Some people are having protests so MPs will listen to them. Greta.a climate change activist, is thought to win the Nobel peace award. I think she would because she cares about Climate change then Brexit. She’s a special girl.
I agree. Greta deserves a lot of recognition for all of the campaigning she has arranged.
16 Oct 2019
I also agree with the fact that Brexit is a bad idea and I also don't see the point of it. But personally in my opinion it is all David Cameron's call for a public referendum on the subject of at this time 'leaving the EU'. This timer is slowly ticking to the collapse of British lifestyle and maybe the economy. Personally this timer scares me and I hope it scares the British population as I really don't think they know what they have brought upon themselves!
17 Oct 2019
I personally don't know a lot about brexit however from what I've heard I'm pretty scared of it.On the news I have been seeing a lot of arguments and debates about brexit whether we should leave the European Unioun or not.I believe we shouldn't because this could effect companies that buy products from the E.U.Whether or not we wanted to go,there isn't a high chance of us leaving anyway.If I'm correct,I'm pretty sure this happened before and well we're still here,making that a even lower chance of us leaving to go to the E.U.Simce I don't know a lot just going to wrap it up here.Hopefully we don't go to the E.U!!!
17 Oct 2019
In my opinion, i personally don't agree with Brexit as I would rather stay in the European Union than leave it, because if we were to leave markets/trading would be a lot harder, and travelling across different countries would be even harder. Another point is that in Ireland, there is a border, people live on one side of the border, and there is a school on the other side. So if we leave the European Union, the Irish would have to have their passports at the ready every school morning and probably most places they would go. Thank you for taking your time to read this
Well done for giving really good reasons for your opinion. You mention the practical difficulties for people living in Ireland and Northern Ireland, but what do you think the emotional impact might be? How would people feel having to do this on a daily basis?
17 Oct 2019
in my opinion, we should stay in the eu because think about all the jobs that could be lost such as,supermarkets, home office and things such as that. i think there should be a meeting in houses of parliament .Any way think of the cost of leaving the eu. I would rather stay in then out,the cost will be over 70 billion, i got this information from the news paper source independent.thank you for taking the time to read this comment.
17 Oct 2019
Personally I would like to leave the EU because we would not have to follow the european rules, in addition to this, we will not be restricted by the EU. If we do not have a deal we will face border checks which could affect our supply lines and could possibly affect our medicine. Furthermore, I would love to hear your thoughts on if we should leave the EU or if we should stay.
Do you think we shall stay?
17 Oct 2019
I do not support Brexit because if it happens, the shops and companies will run out of materials, which is from the EU. Furthermore, the medicine we gain from other countries will not be received because we left the EU on 31st October.
17 Oct 2019
I think Brexit shouldn't happen. I know we've had a general election about it and more people chose to leave than stay in the EU but I don't think it should happen. This is because all the problems with Brexit are hard to avoid or ignore: trying to get a deal with the EU, what will happen with the Irish border, us not being able to trade with the European Union and getting worse medicines. I think we should have a second vote and see what people think now they realise all the problems with leaving. I think people voted to leave because of the reasons on the page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_the_vote_in_favour_of_Brexit. I think people would change their minds if they saw this.
Also, Brexit so far has had three prime ministers: David Cameron, who decided the election would happen, Thearesa May, who had the most struggles so far with Brexit, and, most recently elected, Boris Johnson. That shows just how long Brexit has been going on for. And, it was only 51.9% who chose Brexit and that is only a marginal amount.
The current issue politicians are debating is the Irish Border. If Brexit does happen, then Ireland would be independent and to cross the Irish Border you would need a passport. Some people have to travel across the border to get to school/work. Think how stressful that would having to pass through border control every day and what it would feel like.
These are all the cons with Brexit. I am not aware of any pros of leaving the European Union but if their are then can you reply to this comment. I think we should have another election but I can why people would find that unfair. We fairly voted for something and now we're revoting? I don't think that is fair on the people who voted to leave and still want to leave.
Thank you if you read to here, I know it was a really long comment and it is longer then most posts.
succinct_leaves
Three very firm reasons to support your opinion. Can you look into the 'pros' of leaving the European Union? if 51.9% voted for it, and so much effort is being made to do it, there are some reasons out there!
19 Oct 2019
I really think you should take this post down. As I strongly do not want brexit to happen and the majority of the school don't want it to happen it is just making me more shocked and given me more anxiety and it is making me worry about it even more. In my opinion it is depressing me i don't want to see the count down all my family on my mums side are from the EU and we go to see them 2 times a year. Brexit will make it even harder. Items from other countries in the EU will go up in price because it will cost more to ship and this will not benefit poor families it will make their life even harder. I am going on the peoples vote protest today and i made a banner saying.
I may be small
But I have a big voice inside of me
This is my future.
I am really looking forward to going at standing up for what I want to happen.
I really don't like the countdown it is making me more stressed and worried what my future is going to be like.
good_hedgehog.
(I know this wont get approved until Monday, i wrote this on Saturday the day of the protest 19/10/2019 9:15: 47)
Thank you for the comment, good_hedgehog and I know the Brexit news is worrying many people, including you. I'm very glad to hear you had the chance to make your voice heard at the people's protest. Could you tell us more about the people's vote protest? How did you respond when you heard the decision by parliament would be delayed?
Hi Tom thanks for your feedback.
I travelled to the protest by public transport me and my dad joined it at green park then we marched along the streets waving banners and posters. We got into parliament square the majority of the people there were anti- brexit people like myself but there we about 20 or so brexiteirs who were really standing up for themselves. I respected their opinion but i didn't agree with the reasoning behind it. They hardly gave any evidence and reasoning behind what they were saying. People from the whole of the UK were there. I was standing next to a man who had come all the way from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. There we a couple of videos on the screens and songs that represented freedom of speech and people. Then some presenters came on stage they were two comedians from a TV programme. Then they asked all of parliament square to make noise so the MP's and the PM Boris Johnson so we could get Brexit to be delayed. We were slowly making our way home we stopped by a pop up screen and watched the final results to see if coming out for the protests was worth the time. It was a really close vote it was 306 to 326 everyone was cheering and a having a really good time and celebrating. So we decided to stay a little bit longer to soak in what had just happened. It was a really nice environment we came back home happy the reason we went out there was to get an extension and have a peoples vote and so it payed off spending time for standing up for our rights.
I hope that has filled you guys in of what my experience was like at the demonstration.
Thank You for reading
good_hedgehog
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, good_hedgehog and I am glad you found it a worthwhile experience. I have given you a star for the speaking-up skill because you have shared your opinion and also welcomed and engaged with other points of view when on the protest. Well done!
19 Oct 2019
I think we shouldn't leave the EU. More people chose to leave than stay in the EU but think it should happen. This is because all the problems with Brexit are hard to avoid or ignore: trying to get a deal with the EU. I think we need a second vote, since more people are starting to realise the problems about leaving with no deal.
19 Oct 2019
Personally, I feel that Brexit is simply a disaster.
David Cameron started it in 2016, Theresa May tried to deal with the political situation for 3 years (which finally cost her the job “that has been the honour of my life to hold”), and now Boris Johnson – well, no-one knows what he’s doing, and to be quite frank, I’m not sure if he knows himself!
Look at it like this: the EU and Britain have been together for many decades, shared traditions, economical value, products and much more. How will we cope? If we leave the EU, most of the things we use and love will be gone. All I can say is when you start paying much more for the necessities of life; food, clothing, medicine etc, you’ll understand.
I think that Brexit is really like a divorce. The two sides came together previously and stayed with each other for a reasonable amount of time (like before Brexit happened). They shared many things (like the EU and UK trading and exchanging). And finally, because one thinks it is the best for oneself – not fully thinking about the other side and the rest of the people involved (family) - they separate. Can you see the resemblance?
Whatever happens, I suppose we’ll have to wait and see. But I have one question:
The people who voted “Leave”: were they really aware of the consequences? Were they fully informed?
19 Oct 2019
I disagree to Brexit but I have a reason for it to happen, it is that all the jobs in England might be taken by other countries from the EU. My reason for staying is, England can cooperate with other countries and you can just go and live in other countries easily.
22 Oct 2019
can you put the countdown back on ?
It would be pointless to put back down the countdown because brexit is not now due to happen on the 31 of October on Saturday in the house of commons there was a crucial vote to see if we were going to delay brexit. Mp's voted to have an extension to the 31st of January so it would be counting months down and not very many people will be interested in the countdown any more they would get bored and tired of it because it would be there for ages. When boris jhonson wrote the letter to the EU asking for an extension to brexit he then wrote a letter after that to say he didn't really want to write that letter.
That's what i have to say.
good_hedgehog ;-)
22 Oct 2019
I don’t want Britain to leave the European Union because we are trading partners with lots of the countries and therefore we may starve
22 Oct 2019
seroiusly, i think that now brexit is getting too big of a deal and that it must stop now, and that the house of commons ask Borris Johnson to delay or stop brexit.
22 Oct 2019
I think that we should stay in the eu because The trade agreements, a lot of things come from the EU and we risk losing it all and we probably will not leave on the 31 of October since boris’s deal did not go through recently .
if we were to leave on the 31st i think we will have less food and things from the EU
23 Oct 2019
I disagree passionately with Brexit because it has no advantages whatsoever for the country or the EU. Leaving the EU will mean we no longer have to abide by certain laws and the government will no longer be responsible for upholding certain standards of human rights. It will mean that food expenses will increase and those with less money in the country will find it harder and harder to provide for their families. One of Boris Johnson and Theresa May’s main arguments against having another referendum was that they said we had already made our decision in the 2016 election. What we need to consider is that mostly right-wing, upper class men are in charge of dealing with the problem so they can not claim that we will have made the final decision. memorable_tiger, I don’t think we will starve because we have our own food supply and there will not be a shortage of food, but there may be a shortage of certain foodstuffs which will become more expensive and harder to buy.
Could you give some evidence to support your point about right-wing, upper class men, lovable_writer?
I believe there is plenty of evidence to support the fact that right-wing, upper class men have a huge influence in our country. Firstly, our prime minister is a perfect example. Alongside Johnson, think of Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nigel Farage. Also, after some research, I discovered that only 7 of the 23 cabinet members are women. Some people would say that this is an unfair statement because if the country wants to vote for right-wing, upper class men, then that’s just democracy, but think. We didn’t vote for our current PM, or the one before him. This is shocking that a supposedly forward-thinking, modern country like the UK has allowed itself to be ruled by such an undiverse group of individuals.
23 Oct 2019
why would Brexit be on Halloween?
There is so many questions we could ask about Brexit so feel free to share them with me and the @BNC.
24 Oct 2019
I disagree because I do not think we should leave because we have been in the EU for a long time so we would not do Brexit and I think why should we leave when we could choose to do what we want. I think we should get a new priminister that does not want Brexit to happen and the people that do be there own country and with Boris Johnson to lead that
24 Oct 2019
For my opinion, I really think that we shouldn't leave the Europion Union. This is why:
1. If all of the Britains regret it, there will be no turning back.
2. If all of the people from other countries leave, England would have it hard for each other.
3. Travelling around the world prices would increase and It'll be harder if your jobs in another country ona daily basis life.
Thank you for reading this and I'll think about more reasons on why we shouldn't leave.
-talented_cookie
25 Oct 2019
Tom @ the BNC my post has not been accepted I find this unacceptable
It takes a long time to read and accept posts and this won't always happen instantly, please be patient.
25 Oct 2019
My post is taking too long to be accepted
It takes a long time to read and accept posts and this won't always happen instantly, please be patient.
24 Nov 2019
This is just one of the bad things Brexit is causing for ordinary citizens of the UK and why Brexit shouldn't happen. This happened very recently and it might not be because of Brexit but I think it is or at least it is partly.
My sister, who has very bad headaches, takes a normal medication to stop them getting worse. Recently, however, when she went to pick them up, they weren't in stock. This has happened on a couple of occasions and it has caused them to get worse a bit. Even though it hasn't happened yet, I think this is because of Brexit because it has happened to other people and lots of people are complaining about it. It is because if we get a no-deal Brexit then we can't trade with the EU to get medicines. Again, I might be completely wrong: it might not be to do with Brexit.
P.S. I did get my sister's permission to write this comment.
succinct_leaves
10 Dec 2019
I believe in staying in EU because if we do leave we would struggle for trades in other country’s .Businesses will struggle to import and export food and cloths to keep there businesses running. they would shut down so in conclusion I think that we should stay in the EU For our own good .
13 Dec 2019
I think brexit shouldn't happen because if we do go out of the European Union we will be are own country and if we get areselves in war we will probably lose of how many people we will have in are country. Also we will have to split are country in half and if one side takes more land that can make serious consequences. If we do split are country in half it will be a rivalry inbetween both are sides of are country. Also we will have to pick two priministers for one country two sides which will be very hard and can cause a lot of wars and taking over one sides land. This means are population will become less populated and less defended for war
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