Thread by @uk_domain_names

Do you understand what we threw away on 31 January 2020? Do you? Really?

This is what EU membership used to give us, and why the best route out of Brexit would be to join again, no matter how long that takes...

1. Full unfettered access to the largest trading bloc in the world.

2. Free trade deals with dozens of countries around the world, including Japan, Canada and South Korea.

3. Frictionless borders allowing for just-in-time manufacturing, supporting millions of jobs in the auto industry, in aerospace etc.

4. Wide-open border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, with no customs or other checks between NI and the rest of the UK.

5. Active support for the Good Friday Agreement and Irish peace process (NI benefitted from PEACE funding of over 1.5 billion euro between 1995 and 2020)

6. Beginning after World War Two, the longest unbroken period of peace on the European continent for over a thousand years, aside from civil wars. Friends tend not to fight friends. (This is, after all, a core impulse behind the creation of the EU in the first place!)

7. Freedom for UK citizens to travel, work, study and retire anywhere in the EU.

8. Freedom for EU citizens to travel, work, study and retire in the UK.

9. Scientific and academic collaboration, including access to grants, and knowledge pooling.

10. Participation in Horizon 2020 and successor programmes (Horizon 2020 is the world's largest multinational research programme, and has previously provided funding and assistance for over 10,000 collaborative research projects in the UK.)

11. Collaborative space exploration

(Lots and lots more examples below, but let's take a little breather...)

When you're reading this list, consider that our EU membership cost an average of 41p per person per day. That's less than the price of a premium cup of coffee a week.

(All refreshed? Let's continue!)

12. Participation in the Galileo GPS satellite cluster, including its high quality military signal

13. Driving licenses valid all over the EU. No need for international driving permits.

14. Car insurance valid all over the EU

15. Pet passports that make travelling with pets easy and smooth.

16. Simplified system of fixed compensation for flight delays and cancellations thanks to EU Air Passenger Rights.

17. European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) giving access to healthcare in the the EU for free, or at reduced cost. EHIC also allows for pharmacy prescriptions to be purchased at the same price as someone living in that country. (Amongst the many beneficiaries: people on dialysis.)

18. EU-wide mobile roaming (data, calls and texts) at home prices.

19. Portable streaming services, allowing access to existing Netflix and other streaming accounts all across the EU.

20. Erasmus student exchange programme involving more than 4,000 universities in 31 countries. In the past, over 15,000 UK students participated per year. It also offers exchange opportunities for trainees, and for academic staff.

21. Enhanced consumer protection, including protections for cross-border shopping.

22. Simplified VAT reverse charge mechanism for those selling across the EU

23. Cross-border collaboration on tax issues, to hold huge firms like Amazon and Facebook more readily to account

24. Training courses for the unemployed, funded by the European Social Fund

25. Disaster relief funding, e.g. the 60 million euro we received for flood relief in 2017.

26. Access to a court of last resort (ECJ) that can be used by citizens to hold their Government to account.

27. Enhanced environmental protections.

28. REACH regulations and the EU Chemicals Agency, which combine to improve human, animal and environmental safety around chemicals.

29. Safer medicines due to the pan-EU testing regime.

(Time for another little break. In truth, we're just getting started...)

Of course, any one of these could in theory be replaced by the right treaty, the right agreement. But replacing all of them would be an impossibly complex exercise. EU membership would be much, much easier.

30. Security cooperation, and sharing of crime and terrorist databases.

31. Participation in the European arrest warrant programme that allows for the speedy capture and extradition of wanted criminals sheltering in other EU countries.

32. Participation in the EURATOM programme to ensure the availability of vital medical isotopes, including very short half-life radiologicals.

33. Support for rural areas (which have long been ignored by successive UK governments).

34. Regulations governing better food labelling, including from April 2020 the requirement to identify the country of origin of the primary ingredient in processed food, as well as the country of manufacture of the finished product.

35. EU funding to support the British film industry, theatre and music.

36. Free movement for musicians and their instruments, bands and their equipment, artists and their materials etc., enabling a flourishing European culture scene.

37. Participation in the European Capital of Culture programme, which has previously boosted cities such as Glasgow and Liverpool.

38. Service providers (e.g. freelance translators) can offer their services to clients all over the EU on the same basis as they can UK clients.

39. EU citizenship (it's a real thing, separate and additional to UK citizenship - look it up!)

40. No VAT or duty payable when goods from the EU are imported (great for online shopping as there are no unpleasant surprises in the form of extra charges).

41. Substantial venture capital funding, and the provision of startup loans.
42. Protection for minority languages, such as Welsh, enshrined in law.

43. Mutual recognition of academic and many professional qualifications.

44. Legal protection for foods of geographic origin, e.g. Melton Mowbray pork pies, ensuring that copycat products from other regions can't be passed off as the real thing.

45. The elimination of surcharges on credit and debit card transactions (EU law makes these illegal).

(Congrats! You've made it half-way. Hurrah!)

A brief word about my book: 'Slaying Brexit Unicorns' debunks Brexit myths, and exposes the real nature of no deal and trade on WTO terms. All the current facts you need!

Available on Kindle & in paperback...
amazon.co.uk/Slaying-Brexit…

46. EU structural funding (e.g. the £2 billion Liverpool has received in the past) with a requirement for matched private funding to boost its effectiveness further.

47. Support and encouragement for democracy in post-communist countries.

48. Guaranteed use of EU queues at ports and airports, including e-gates where available.

49. A bigger, stronger presence on the world stage when facing off economic giants such as the USA and China.

50. Products made or grown in the UK can be sold in 31 countries without type approval, customs duties, phytosanitary certificates or other costly red tape.

51. Strong, legally enforced food hygiene standards, including prohibitions on chlorinated chicken and GM crops.

52. Objective 1 funding for deprived areas and regions.

53. Financial passporting, enabling firms in the City of London to provide services to clients all over the EU.

54. Legally enforced 14 day cooling-off period on new timeshare agreements.

55. Access to university education in other EU countries at the same rate home students would pay (many EU countries still offer free education)

56. Consular protection in countries outside of the EU from any EU embassy or consulate, if they don't have an UK embassy or consulate

57. Secure baseline of worker protections, including restrictions on maximum hours worked, maternity leave etc. (We are free to improve on these in domestic UK law any time we like - as indeed we already do in many instances - because they're a floor, not a ceiling.)

58. Protection against discriminatory treatment when working in other EU countries, compared to local staff, thanks to EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

59. Minimum of 4 weeks of paid leave a year (introduced by the EU in 1993, adopted by UK in 1998, extended to 28 days in 2009)

60. Right to land fish in EU ports (the EU buys more than half of all fish caught by UK fishermen).

61. Access to a willing seasonal workforce to pick our fruit and vegetables.

62. Ensure a vital supply of medicines (we import 37 million packs a month from the EU)

(Another little breather... we're getting there!)

Now perhaps you can see why Remainers get so upset when they're told to "get over it"? Brexit isn't a football match result, to be forgotten about after a grumble. It is a fundamental upheaval of the UK's situation in the world.

63. Minimum 2 year guarantee on all consumer products, no matter which channel you bought them through (e.g. in a shop, online or via a catalogue).

64. A major say in the running of the EU, with MEPs representating the UK in the European Parliament, judges on the ECJ panel, etc.

65. A say in the setting of the EU budget and on determining the EU's priorities and focus.

66. More influence on environmental policy, since we would have a hand in shaping laws that governed 28 countries (pollution and carbon emissions don't stop neatly at borders).

67. Cleaner air, backed by the EU Air Quality Directive (in the past, the UK Government was successfully taken to court for failing to meet its obligations).

68. Strong pan-EU intellectual property protection, including participation in the upcoming unified patent system.

69. Some of the highest toy safety standards in the world.

70. Protection of 500 bird species under legislation dating back to 1979 and enhanced in 2009.

71. Cleaner beaches.

72. Pan-EU regulators (food, chemicals etc.) that can save us money by doing away with the need to duplicate their function at the local UK level.

73. A powerful presence on the world stage thanks to 28 EU countries acting in unison.

74. Right to vote and stand as a candidate in local and European elections in the EU country you're living in, under the same conditions as local candidates

75. Right to petition the European Parliament, either singly or jointly with others, on any matter within the EU's fields of activity. This right is also extended to companies headquartered in the EU as well as individuals.

76. Right to contact EU institutions in any one of the 24 official languages of the EU.

77. Support for people with disabilities. Initiatives such as the European accessibility act (mandating accessibility requirements of various products and services) and the EU parking card.

78. Right to buy services (e.g. hotel bookings, car rentals) from anywhere in the EU at the same price as local buyers would pay.

79. Ability to bring home anything you buy in another EU country without making a customs declaration, so long as it is for your own personal use.

(We're into the home stretch now... Final little break.)

One of the most frustrating things about Brexit is how much and how fast the glib promises of Brexiters have unravelled. Now, it's clear that Boris Johnson's government prioritises "getting out" over avoiding disruption.

80. Right to cancel and return the order of any product bought outside of a shop (e.g. online or by telephone) within 14 days, for any reason. (Exceptions exist, such as personalised goods or sealed packages that you have broken the seal on.)

81. Strong data protection laws, protecting personal data maintained in any format (online, on paper, etc.) including the right to withdraw consent for the processing of your data, and the right to object to receiving direct marketing.

82. The right to know what personal data a company or organisation is holding about you, within a month of it being requested. The information should be provided free of charge, and in an accessible format.

83. The right to be forgotten i.e. to get organisations to delete the personal data they've stored on you.

84. Banks must charge you the same for payments in euro across the EU as they do for the equivalent national transactions.

85. Insurance firms can sell their products anywhere in the EU, without having to be established in each EU country.

86. Enhanced human rights protection (especially against the State) through the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

87. Right to register and maintain .eu domain names

88. A single broadcasting licence valid in the whole of the EU, removing the need for TV networks to obtain licences country by country.

89. Regulation and reporting of CO2 emissions in new vans and lorries, with a monitoring and enforcement system that includes fines for manufacturers that fail to meet their targets.

90. Participation in the EU emissions trading scheme, which establishes total caps on emissions while allowing individual companies to buy and sell their emission allowances to meet their changing requirements.

91. Participation in the EU pandemic Early Warning and Response system (EWRS) that ties together governments & key agencies to combat cross-border health threats.

Congratulations, you made it! How many of these did you know about? Was anything a surprise? Has your view changed?

On your way out, can I gently direct you to my book again?

Here are a few things reviewers have said about it:
- "Excellent dissection of the Brexit Tragedy"
- "Clear, concise, informative"
- "A must read for all things Brexit"
- "Read it for the facts"

amazon.co.uk/Slaying-Brexit…