However, we are in a transition period until the 30th December. So unless we request an extension, which seems unlikely, things are going to change

significantly for every business sector, almost all negatively according to the Government’s own Yellowhammer impact assessments (1, 2, 3), which are broadly in line with other commentators around the world.

We must remember this transition period is not meant to give the British Government more time to come up with solutions (one would hope the

Government has a plan) but to give business time to prepare a transition to a new way of working, under new rules.

However business doesn’t know what to prepare for because the Government has not told them; and the UK Government is not being clear with the EU about what they want, so nobody knows what the post-transition period will look like.

Therefore, Somerset Loves Europe has reorganised to be able to research the impacts on the people and businesses of Somerset and write strong articles, based on talking to people, in order to inform the public of this huge and regrettable change to our country.

Our Short-Term aims are to help EU Citizens living in the UK to gain Settled Status (4), and to support the strong case to extend the transition period, so that we can have as close a relationship with the rest of our continent of Europe as we can.

Our Medium-Term aim is to demonstrate the Government is taking the UK in a direction that almost nobody wanted; ie LESS Sovereignty, has no more control of its borders and more likely less than it did before, and has less control of its money, partly because it will have less tax receipts and much more complicated trading terms with the rest of the world.

We will show that the UK will be forced to concede to regulation that does not comply with current British regulatory standards on food and drink, animal welfare, environmental regulation, and health and safety.

Our Ultimate Aim is to help persuade the British people, starting with Somerset, to appreciate the huge benefit of the UK belonging to the largest, most sophisticated trade bloc in the world and the standard setter for the world on actions on the environment, bio-diversity and human rights and equality.

We at Somerset Loves Europe believe that it is inevitable that the UK will rejoin the European Union.

There will soon be the biggest swing in public mood in our lifetimes.

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1) Operation Yellowhammer HMG Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions as of 2 August 2019. Available from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/831199/20190802_Latest_Yellowhammer_Planning_assumptions_CDL.pdf

2) BBC News, “Brexit: What does Yellowhammer say about no-deal impact?”, at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47652280

3) Financial Times, “Yellowhammer document sets out potential damage of no-deal Brexit”, at https://www.ft.com/content/dc8053e4-d4c8-11e9-a0bd-ab8ec6435630

4) Settled, at https://settled.org.uk/en/