HOLE GETS DEEPER: Brexit consequences they didn’t plan for

Source: News Corp Australia Network:

June 28, 2016 at 21:01

AND so it begins. As UK politicians grapple with the extraordinary reality they find themselves in when it comes to leaving the EU, thoughts have turned to the nitty gritty of such an unprecedented political process.

Leaders have stressed that nothing will change until the UK invokes Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, however that hasn't stopped endless speculation on what could happen next.
Here are a few things that could change.

ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

The main language used by EU institutions could be scrapped as no other state has English registered as its official language, the head of the EU’s constitutional affairs committee has confirmed.

“We have a regulation … where every EU country has the right to notify one official language,” Danuta Hübner said.

“The Irish have notified Gaelic, and the Maltese have notified Maltese, so you have only the UK notifying English.”

“If we don’t have the UK, we don’t have English.”

If leaders wanted to keep it, the 27 remaining nations would have to vote in favour of that unanimously. However there is one argument that member countries can have more than one official language so Ireland may save the English language after all.

EUROSTAR SERVICES AND CALAIS

Exactly what will happen to the border between Britain and France is also up for debate, made tense by the Calais migrant camp known as The Jungle located on the French side.

Britain’s border controls are based in France in an arrangement made under the 2003 Le Touquet Treaty. However right-wing politician Xavier Bertrand now wants to send the border back to the UK and is calling on French president Francois Hollande to do so.

“The British people have chosen to take back their freedom, they must take back their borders,” he said. “Boris Johnson wanted change and he got it with Brexit. So do we,” he told The Telegraph.

A spokesman for the departing UK Prime Minister David Cameron said in February if the UK was to leave Europe arrangements such as this could be “called into question”.

Eurotunnel CEO Jacques Gounon, whose company runs services in the Channel Tunnel between the two countries, said: “The Channel Tunnel fixed link was established with an international treaty between two sovereign states.”

“Our Anglo-French vocation is to offer our customers a constantly improving and more competitive transport service. I am confident that we will achieve our goals.”

A woman in Hong Kong where markets have been battered by the news that the UK will leave the European Union. Picture: AFP/Anthony WallaceSource:AFP

STOP ASKING FOR IRISH PASSPORTS

“How to get an Irish passport” became one of the most Googled questions following the Brexit result. Ireland is a member of the EU, so any Brit able to obtain an Irish passport would still be able to travel freely through EU countries.

The situation prompted Irish Foreign Affairs minister Charlie Flanagan to warn people it may take longer to get one due to an “unnecessary surge” in demand.

“The increased interest clearly points to a sense of concern among some UK passport holders that the rights they enjoy as EU citizens are about to abruptly end,” he said.

“The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union but it has not yet left.”

It comes as post offices in Northern Ireland ran out of application forms and London’s Irish embassy fielded more than 4000 inquires compared to the usual 200 it gets a day.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has also pushed for the open border betweenNorthern Ireland and Ireland to be retained. However that would leave a 500km stretch of land border between Britain and Europe wide open that could spark fears over security and illegal crossings.

NANDOS QUASHES EGGSCAPE RUMOURS

A blog post claiming that the beloved chicken chain would close all restaurants “immediately” led to internet meltdown amid fears the South African company could pull out of the UK market.

Luckily for some, the chain that has nearly 300 stores across the UK and Ireland confirmed it would not be going anywhere.

“Right, let’s put these rumours to bed. We are definitely staying in the UK!” the company tweeted.

FLIGHTS AND TRAVEL PRICES

How the vote will affect travel remains to be seen but shares in airlines have taken a hammering after the result which has also sent the pound to a 31-year low leading to a drastic spike in the price of foreign currency.

EasyJet CEO Carolyn McCall said “nothing will change overnight” and much depended on the new agreement that was yet to be worked out.

EasyJet shares fell 15 per cent after the country downgraded its revenue forecasts following “extremely challenging” conditions in May and June.

UK passport holders will not lose benefits for visa-free travel across Europe for two years at least. Beyond that, it depends on the type of arrangement that will be worked out but could replicate that of Switzerland and Norway who are outside the political union but retain access to the freedom of movement in the single market.