Calling any Brits out there.

[peter]

There was an odd sort of nervousness in peoples response to the referendum vote on Friday morning in the shop; it was as if they couldn't quite grasp what had been done - or if they could they were suddenly pensive about how to proceed. Another strange side effect [maybe] was that pasty sales went stratospheric - we cooked about three times the normal number and couldn't get them on to the shelves fast enough. Apparently the same happened in the other local shops selling them. I think it was a combination of the weather, it being a Friday, but also an unconscious retreat into a good English 'comfort food' in the face of a suddenly uncertain future. Strange!

[I'm Murrin]

It seems like my last post is already proven wrong, as the EU has said they won't work with the UK on an exit plan prior to official invocation of Article 50. (I presume they don't want to be wasting time and money on negotiations if the UK just uses it as a lever to back out of the referendum).

I can understand the EU being pretty hardline about this - they want to send the message to countries that they can't use the option of leaving the EU (with just speculation on it destabilising the whole union) as a play in petty local political maneuvering (as Cameron did in promising the referendum and making his deals with the EU earlier this year, and as Boris Johnson has done in his backing Brexit for the sole purpose of becoming Prime Minister).

[Avatar]

Britain May Never Trigger EU Divorce

Britain "may never" trigger the formal divorce process with the EU despite last week's referendum in which the country voted to leave, EU diplomats said on Sunday.

"My personal belief is they will never notify" the EU about their intention to leave, a senior EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

A state leaving the EU must formally notify the European Council of all 28 EU leaders under Article 50 of the 2007 Lisbon Treaty, setting the clock ticking on a two-year period for Britain to negotiate its divorce.

"We want London to trigger Article 50 now, to have clarity. I expect, as we can't force them, for them to take their time," the diplomat added.

"And I would not exclude, it's my personal belief, that they may never do it."

The official did not specify if he believed Britain would avoid it by holding a new referendum, or simply dragging out the process to extract a better divorce deal, but said all such decisions were up to London.

Cameron has said he will resign by October and that it is for his successor to launch the process and lead the negotiations.

Despite growing pressure from EU leaders, Cameron was not expected to trigger Article 50 at an EU summit on Tuesday, another senior EU official said.

Britain's EU partners believed the notification should come by Christmas at the latest.

"There cannot be any kind of negotiation with Britain before there is a notification."

Meanwhile the EU had received "thousands" of emails from Britons since Friday saying they were unhappy with the result, including some from people who had voted to leave the EU and were now regretting it.

"It's the first time after a decade of hate mail from Britain, we are flooded with love emails," said the diplomat.

Don't know if I necessarily agree with him, although it is probably a possibility. However, I do like his conclusion.

--A