Yes, that's a fair assessment.<p>It's hard to imagine how this whole situation could have been fucked-up to a greater extent. I'm a solid supporter of remaining in the EU, but I'm open-minded to the idea that an orderly Brexit could have been planned and executed, with the public being aware of the various trade-offs. A single market on one hand, balanced against free movement and regulatory harmonisation on the other.<p>But that discussion didn't happen. There was <i>literally no coherent concept</i> in the public sphere about what the goals of Brexit where, or what the desired end state was – and there still isn't. Obviously to some extent because the outcome was unexpected, but that doesn't excuse the ongoing incompetence and failure to be realistic on the behalf of the UK government. Various government ministers continue to be <i>frankly fucking deluded</i> about what they are trying to achieve – in a way that I have to assume that they are deliberately lying. There is still no coherent government policy on what Brexit actually is, and no corresponding public idea of that either.<p>This is in stark contrast to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 – though I was on the 'yes' side then. I have a book published by the Scottish government sitting on my bookshelf, which outlines in decent detail the plans and desired outcomes if independence was chosen. Not that all of that would come to pass, or would even be possible, but <i>even to have a stated government plan</i> is light-years ahead of what is happening at the UK level. It's almost criminally irresponsible.<p>Worse, there is no obvious out – either a reversal of this policy, or any sign of a government that can realistically set out what it wants to achieve. The main opposition party is weak and equally committed to Brexit, and with the leader of the opposition being the only realistic figure around which support could coalesce, there is limited room for manoeuvre.<p>Now we see the fallout – not in the short term, but taking a longer view. I've had people explicitly tell my startup that they are no longer funding in the UK because they "have no idea what's going to happen". It's become much harder to hire EU-based workers, because of course they have no idea what their position will be in a couple of years. I have watched a number of talented friends and contacts move away from the UK, because they can't really be bothered with this nonsense. In the long-term, this cack-handed mismanagement is going to be another bullet point in the long and slow decline of the UK. It's not like the world is going to end – it's just that everything is going to be a bit shittier.<p>I know that's a bit of a rant, but it's utterly frustrating to deal with from inside the UK when so many are currently banging on about how good it's great to be to have a different fucking colour of passport.