Introduction
Today I listened to the live UK Parliamentary feed as Prime Minister Theresa May formally declared the triggering of Article 50.
Article 50 is the part of the European Union Treaty that allows member states to leave the EU.
The UK's EU ambassador has handed over a letter to the EU (which you can read here) on behalf of the Prime Minister.
"Today, therefore, I am writing to give effect to the democratic decision of the people of the United Kingdom. I hereby notify the European Council in accordance with Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union of the United Kingdom's intention to withdraw from the European Union."
No matter what side of the Brexit argument you are on, this is a momentous day.
My Thoughts on Brexit
I have resisted sharing my thoughts on Brexit in the past because I think this has been an issue that has polarised people to a great extent and caused good friends to fall out.
The thing is Brexit is happening, people need to accept it and we need to work together to make the best of things moving forward.
When the issue of Brexit originally came around I was quite neutral on it. I could see both sides of the argument.
In the end neither the remain nor leave sides made a convincing case to me and so I opted to abstain from voting.
As time has passed my view on Brexit has become more positive.
Right now the biggest problem with regards to us leaving the EU is uncertainty. World economies don't like anything which they can't predict.
It is hard to say exactly how they will respond to the triggering of Article 50 though, since it removes one form of uncertainty and replaces it with another.
We now know that there is no possibility of any kind of rejection or reversal of Brexit so that has now become certain.
The uncertainty remains on exactly how it will be implemented and what the long term effects will be.
My personal belief is that we will actually be stronger in the long term.
Why?
Well because the UK is very much a unique case in the EU.
We have a strong cultural identity which is more distinct from the rest of Europe - I think this comes in part from being an island nation.
This extends to being more independent minded and libertarian.
We have staunchly resisted joining the Euro experiment as a result of this.
There will be tough times ahead and uncertainty in the near future but long term being outside of Europe will also allow us to adapt to change more rapidly than if we were inside.
This century is going to see the most rapid changes we have ever seen in human history, from both a technological standpoint and a social one.
More and more jobs are being replaced by automation. The pace of progress is increasing to a level where it is easy to get left behind.
Economic and social turmoil will likely become the norm.
I believe the economies that will survive in this situation are those which are flexible and adaptable.
That is just not possible when you are part of a giant superstate like the EU which needs to serve the requirements of multiple member states with vastly different economies.
As a member state of the EU the best we could have hoped for was poorly optimised legislation that did the "least harm".
Think of it like buying a set of clothes for 28 different people - it is highly unlikely that the same size would look good or work for all of them.
Whilst I am positive on the long term prospects there are certain things which I think need to resolved as soon as possible.
To save time I won't go into all of them (they are likely to be argued ad nauseam all over the media anyway).
The main issue which has personally affected friends of mine is the issue of EU nationals working in the UK and UK nationals within the EU.
These people are having a difficult time as they are unsure what their final occupational and residential status will be.
I think it would actually have been a very powerful act of good faith if the UK had unilaterally guaranteed the rights of EU nationals working in the UK (as was voted for in the House of Lords a few weeks ago).
The refusal of Parliament to do this has been a major PR blunder.
I don't agree with the reasoning that it would potentially be risky to do it without similar reciprocation for UK nationals in the EU.
Indeed, had it been done - I think it would have made it virtually impossible for the EU not to.
Since that has not happened I hope that the government will get this issue resolved as one of their first priorities in the negotiations.
Anyway, I wanted to keep this as brief as possible.
Let me know what you think.
Are you positive or negative on Brexit? How do you see the future?