Count down to "Bidet" - and our economy heading down the toilet.

In nineteen days’ time, the UK as we know it will change forever.

Armageddon, the Apocalypse, call it what you want but the dreaded B Day (or as I like to call it "Bidet" will arrive. A sign of what was to come, about two weeks ago Arthurs Seat in Edinburgh appeared to erupt spewing lava across our country’s capital. It was in fact a bush fire caused by a rogue cigarette butt, but the capital watched the once extinct volcano basked in fire. The following day a mysterious fog descended across a Kilmarnock v Motherwell football match causing it to be abandoned mid play.

Surely these were a sign of the impending doom.

I am a proud Scotswoman and lover of Europe. I voted to remain as I do believe that aged old adage that we are in fact better together. With the UK finally in a state of stability after the worst financial crash in history, the last thing we needed was a messy divorce. I can vividly remember the vote three years ago. A close friend and I sat up all night watching in disbelief as the votes rolled in and we both headed off to work the following morning with a heavy heart knowing the chaos to our economy that lay ahead.

A government in complete disaray, surely Theresa May should resign or is she staying in power now just to prove a point? A government with so many deserters in recent weeks, an opposition with no real alternative and sixty million people across the country holding their head in their hands.

As businesses try to make plans ahead of what might happen we are already seeing some big names moving business and head offices overseas. James Dyson has already moved his HQ to Singapore, citing it’s a strategic move for their move into the ASEAN market, but moving a HQ changes tax positions and ring fences them from the disaster that is going to fall on UK soil. Some banks are making noises about moving operations abroad.

I saw a story on twitter this morning from a personal trainer in Edinburgh whose dad had lived in the UK since he was 14. He has run a business for over forty years, employed many staff and paid hundreds of thousands in taxes to the UK government. He is now 67 years old and has to reapply to continue living in this country. There are so many other stories to echo this man’s. I also saw a video that someone shared on social media of the customs queue at Schiphol airport. The non-EU queue went around the block with 45-minute delays. The EU queue was empty.

The statistics showed that the majority of 18 to 34-year olds voted to remain, and staggeringly the majority of those over 55 across all classes voted to leave.

Hang on, so the latter will leave their kids and grandchildren to fix their mess and decision for the next twenty years? Hardly fair.

Interestingly, business in Scotland is still booming amid all the fears. House prices in Edinburgh are at their highest, tourism in the capital is booming according to a local entrepreneur and restauranteur.

And after all that’s happened over the last three years, there is still no deal that satisfies the remainers, the leavers and the undecided. So, what will happen on March 29th? What can we do?

Can we ride out the storm and come out relatively unscathed? If I am out the country on the 27th will I get back in post Brexit.

If only we had a time machine and could go back three years and stop the biggest ever UK disaster since the 2008 financial crash.

#brexit #europe #entrepreneur #scotland #edinburgh #Arthursseat