Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

IHS Markit’s index of economic optimism over the next 10 years dropped to minus 18.4 percent in November from minus 11.1 percent in August and minus 3.5 percent in July, it said on Tuesday. The survey asks people whether the U.K.’s prospects have gotten better, worse, or stayed the same as a result of the Brexit vote.

With the pound falling, one issue that may be worrying consumers is the outlook for inflation, which the Bank of England forecasts will accelerate through 2017, eating into real incomes. U.K. manufacturers expect to jack up prices in the coming months, the Confederation of British Industry said Tuesday.

In the short-term -- over the next six months -- the index was little changed, at minus 40.7 percent compared with minus 42.7 percent in August. While the economy has performed better than anticipated since the referendum, expanding 0.5 percent in the third quarter, Markit said the report shows that pessimists still outnumber optimists to a “significant extent.”

“The latest survey highlights how Brexit is expected to carry a higher than previously-thought cost in economic terms,” said Markit Chief Economist Chris Williamson. “On average, people have become considerably more pessimistic about the impact of the decision to leave the EU on the economy over the next decade.”

Do you think that if parliament fails to make Brexit happen, after the referendum, the backlash from angry Leave supporters could propel UKIP to power?

Not necessarily. I think the majority of Brexit folks didn't understand the consequences of leaving the union. Maybe, some changed their minds after learning that Brexit will end up costing everybody more money and jobs.

The UK economy is "resilient" despite forecasts that government finances will be £122bn worse off than previously expected by 2020, the chancellor said. In his Autumn Statement Philip Hammond said growth predictions had been cut as a result of the Brexit vote.

UKIP has only one member of Parliament, the Conservatives have 329 and Labor 230. It's one thing to vote one way on a referendum, it's another to go all the way over to send your only representative to the government from a different party over that issue. That would be an unprecedented amount of party-switching, no precedent for anything close to that.

and Labor 230.

Britain may have voted to leave the European Union, but its short-term fate still lies predominantly in the hands of foreigners, according to a new Brexit “power list” that attempts to measure who wields the most clout in the tricky negotiations to come.

Theresa May and Germany’s Angela Merkel jointly share top spot in the Brexit50 ranking – drawn up by a panel of independent experts – as befits their respective roles as Britain and Europe’s most powerful politicians.

Yet key UK ministers including Boris Johnson and Liam Fox trail far behind lesser-known officials whose influence over the process is deemed likely to be far more influential.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, and Didier Seeuws, a Belgian diplomat placed in charge of the European council’s “Brexit taskforce”, are the highest ranked non-politicians, in fourth and 11th places, while the UK foreign secretary and international trade secretary languish in 21st and 19th spots respectively. As Brussels bureaucrats are fond of observing, process is power.

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EU negotiators outrank UK ministers in Brexit 'power list

Quote:

Britain may have voted to leave the European Union, but its short-term fate still lies predominantly in the hands of foreigners,

Yet key UK ministers including Boris Johnson and Liam Fox trail far behind lesser-known officials whose influence over the process is deemed likely to be far more influential.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, and Didier Seeuws, a Belgian diplomat placed in charge of the European council’s “Brexit taskforce”, are the highest ranked non-politicians, in fourth and 11th places, while the UK foreign secretary and international trade secretary languish in 21st and 19th spots respectively. As Brussels bureaucrats are fond of observing, process is power.

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I believe this statement encapsulates the chief weakness of today's European Union, and it is one that, uncorrected, could bring the whole structure down in the next decade or so.

While the methodology of the 18-strong panel of international experts who drew up the list for the European media network EurActiv will be open to challenge, the process of voting on which figures to include has underlined how much leverage over the terms of Brexit clearly lies across the channel.