We Asked People How Much They Would Pay to Stop Brexit Happening

No one really knows what "Brexit means Brexit" actually means, including government officials. But apparently one thing Brexit definitely does mean is: a big expensive mess. What with cabinet squabbles slowing things down and the need to recruit a load more civil servants, the bureaucracy and paper pushing needed to make it all happen is going to cost about the UK about £65 million£65 million, according to a new report.

Now, I thought £65 million was quite a lot of money, but it actually works out to about £1 for everyone living in the UK . Which is not loads, but I'd still rather not pay my pound to have a shitty future where I can't move to Madrid on a whim.

With that in mind, I went to ask the nice people of London how they are holding up nearly 100 days after the result, and what they thought of the cost of all this Brexit business. Because I was asking people in London, which voted against Brexit, we mostly ended up talking about how much money they would pay to stop Brexit from happening, rather than what they would pay to hurry things along.

VICE: So how do you feel about Brexit?
Corey: Well, I haven't felt any difference, really.

Like, in your body?
In my soul, deep within me.

I meant how did you feel about the result?
I was disappointed with the result, but like I say, I haven 't felt any change in my life so far.

Well last week it was reported that it's probably going to cost about £65 million to make it happen.
That's a massive waste of money. I was dead set against it from the beginning, but you can never underestimate the stupidity of an entire country.

If it's costing about £1 per person to make it happen, how much would you pay to stop it from happening?
Me, personally? I could only give ten million, max.

Like, money that you actually have?
Oh, I don't know.

Great, thanks Corey!

What are your feelings about Brexit?
Federico: I was disappointed, but not any more. I 'm trying to forget about it. I 'm from Italy, and I thought that British people were different – smarter than us. But I 'm not sure any more. You just can't give that size of a decision to the people. A lot of politicians explained the decision from a point of view of immigration and stuff that people from the countryside and people with less education reacted to. But the problem is that the British government need us. Imagine London without foreign people, without us. It wouldn 't work.
Betty: I'm not disappointed, I'm more angry. I'm from France and I think it was a mistake that you're going to regret.

So, at the moment, it's estimated that it'll cost £65 million pounds to actually make it happen, like a pound per person. How much money would you pay to stop Brexit from happening?
F: Absolutely nothing. Because you deserve it.
B: I'd say the same – I wouldn 't pay anything.
F: Sorry. The wound is still open for me.

Don't worry, I feel you, Federico.

What do you feel about Brexit so far?
Brent: We're based in Scotland so we have a bit of a Scottish perspective, and they don 't exactly seem for it. And I feel like Londoners aren 't either. Seems like, to me, from an American perspective, it isn't such a good idea. It feels a little bit like our current US presidential elections, where there is this odd minority who are afraid of the future and they want to go back to a life that never really existed. But they seem to be driving the train for all of us. It seems uninformed and scary.
Mary: I especially feel for young people in Britain, because it's their future. As I understand it, it was the older voters who were voting because they were the most fearful, and I think it was about the immigration message. But it was the future of young people that was compromised.

It's currently looking like it 's going to cost £65 million for the government to actually make it happen. Is that too much?
B: Oh, I think it's going to cost you a lot more than that. Are we talking opportunity loss?

No, we're just talking in terms of bureaucracy. It's currently costing us like £1 per person to hire the new civil servants and so on. How much would you pay to stop it from happening?
B: It would depend on how wealthy I was. If I was a billionaire I would pay a couple of million. But just as an average person? Oh, a hundred pounds.
M: Sure, yeah.

How do you feel about Brexit?
Katy: Disappointed. It's a shame for the UK, it's a shame for Europe. I 'm quite surprised we voted for it. I voted to stay because I work in finance and obviously it would be better for the economy to stay. We just went on holiday in Europe and it 's already more expensive – the pound isn't good and that means less money, less ice creams and less beer. I 'm not happy and my girlfriend isn't happy, because she has to wear the cheap suncream now.

That sounds pretty shitty. Last week it was reported that it 's going to cost £65 million to get cabinet and civil servants organised enough to make it happen. How do you feel about that amount of money?
I just think it's wasted money. There's far more pressing things going on in the country, in Syria and in Europe that they could spend our hard-earned money on to deal with. It 's just a complete joke; it's embarrassing for all of us.

So if it's costing you £1 to push Brexit through, how much would you pay to stop it?
If I could stay in Europe, I'd give a hundred pounds. Out the cash machine, bang, go.

Bang!

How did you feel about Brexit?
Steven: Happy. I voted to leave mainly because of migration. Not so much to get migrants out, because everyone knows that 's not going to happen, but to control the borders and get people from other places in who are going to benefit the country.

So it's costing a lot of money to organise, about £65 million. Is that a good amount of money to make it happen?
That's a bit of a joke, really. Lower the payroll.

If it's costing you £1 in tax money to make Brexit happen, would you pay any more to make it happen?
I'd pay the pound, maybe a little bit more, but I 'd be happy with a pound.

How do you feel about Brexit?
I feel like it's disgusting. I'm French and am here to work in London, and I can 't imagine that people don't want me in this country. I 'm fucking amazing.

You do seem pretty cool.
Exactly! I don't know why people don't want foreign people in this country. I feel like France has the same problem as the UK, but it 's just an illusion. It 's just a distraction to say that the problem is from immigrants. I think London is a bubble where everyone pretty much agrees with me, but the rest of England, I think they are wrong.

Someone estimated that it's costing the UK government £65 million to make Brexit happen. How much would you pay to stop it from happening?
Everything I got. That's like £20, because I'm broke. But yeah, everything I got, for real.

Thanks, Roman!

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