Once there was one nation toryism. Then the 2 main parties more or less agreed on the goal, but differed in how best to attain it. It faded away after the 1970's. Legislation that helped make the country a kinder palce to live has always been unpopular with the right wing - remember Maastricht? - John Major had to be seen to "cut the treaty down to size" which still did not appease his "bxstxrds" as he called them. No prizes for seeing the future direction of deregulation - anything that lowers costs. In my working life (now retired) I recall having to deal with a problem caused by a too cold workplace; the guvnor confided "Well, they don't feel the cold like we do, do they?". I'm afraid that the great and good?? have no experience of normal life, and generally act as if they have little interest in it unless they are vote catching. In the absence of official explantion, I suspect the broad sunlit uplands will be stalked by those benefitting from the deregulation (unspecified) which they are so keen to see. The word "mirage" comes to mind.
No.1 son, a brickie who worked for one of the larger building firms, sold the terrace house he renovated in his spare time, and bought a 2Ha plot in Portugal for around £2000. He moved there with his wife and 2 children, lived in a bothy and built a villa with a pool, on the proceeds of the sale. You don't have to be rich, just posess the motivation. He now makes a living locally with his digger.
I spent a lot of time in Germany in the late 1950's, youth hostelling. Other youg people were asking me - when will you (UK) join the Union. It seems strange to me that those with whom I have kept contact over the years, seem to have done so much better than their UK counterparts. Perhaps the press (with it's own agenda) felt it had to rubbish the EU with fake news to hide this intersting fact.
The Euro hasn't crashed yet. Moreover, most annoyingly, we get fewer and fewer for our £. Goodies from the USA are no longer cheap. I was lucky enough to get mine at $2.40 to the £. In my fathers day, there were $4 to the £, so 5 bob (25p) was called a dollar, and that was just after the war when the country was almost brioke. Some £, eh?
The fishermen were not happy before we joined. there was then a govt. marine research station at Lowestoft (I think) who were predicting a crash in cod stocks in the 1950's from over fishing, and there were perpetual arguments over net mesh size regulations. In EU times many sold up their quota, so a large % of fishing rights are no longer ours to control what ever happens. If we had left deal-less, inport duties would be payable on entry of fish and shellfish into the EU making such trade unviable. UK punters eat manly imported fish, as the cost is more reasonable than home grown. It's all emotion, anyway, as fisheries are worth just 0,01% of GDP.
Apologies for the column inches, but this oldie is definitely sad at the outcome. If I'm wrong and we all bask in UK glory one day, I doubt that I will see it. I have much in common with those ladies of a certain age whose pension was deferred for a few years just as their retirement was supposed to be coming over the horizon.
Time to suppress gloom with some more woodwork.