Originally Posted by
jackal2
I can't speak for other Leave voters, but I was never under any illusion that the process of extricating ourselves from a system we've been tied into for 40 years would be smooth or short-term. One of my reasons for voting leave is that the EU has become something of an economic and political straitjacket for the countries within it, which was not what people voted for when the UK first joined the Common Market.
There have been a few outlandish predictions of eternal purgatory which do constitute Project Fear and are as daft as the '£350 million for the NHS' claims that came from the more excitable parts of the Leave campaign. However, I wouldn't dispute that it will take a significant period of time to untie ourselves from the EU mechanism and then negotiate the full range trade deals we want with countries around the world. That's just part and parcel of the decision to change course.
It's true that the US and China can negotiate from a position of strength with any smaller country, but they frequently have the advantage when negotiating with the EU block too, because the US and Chinese Governments don't have to please or compromise with 27 internal, separate units to reach a negotiating position.
The UK economy will have to adjust to operating independently again after 4 decades, but the situation will stabilise and we will adapt. Some of the folk giving dire warnings of how weak we will be without the financial and political power of the EU are the same ones who argue against curtailing public sector spending on the grounds that "the UK is one of the largest economies in the world", so they can't have it both ways. We will be able to negotiate deals without restrictions with pretty much any country outside the EU, and the reality is that we will still have a larger and stronger economy than many.