I was at a dinner last night when I heard the news.
I really wasn’t expecting the British people to vote to leave the European Union. I was shocked.
So, now: we will begin to see the unintended and unexpected consequences of leaving, which will be a difficult and perilous process.
With every big change there are unintended and unexpected consequences. Whether it is changing jobs, moving home, ending a relationship, having a child, or creating legislation in parliament. Decisions might be made for particular reasons and there will be some predictable consequences. But there’s usually a whole set of things that happen that take us by surprise.
We should be cautious when we wish for change, of whatever sort. There will be consequences that we never predicted. That’s just the way it is.
What will Brexit mean for the UK wine trade? What will it mean for the flourishing English wine producers, who are just starting to make waves with their sparkling wines? We won’t know for some time.
For now, we will probably experience a lot of instability. People will make strange decisions, motivated by fear and fuelled by uncertainty. The EU will be scared of other countries following suit: they may try to punish the UK as a disincentive to others who would follow in our steps. It’s all a bit of a mess. It will be probably fine in the long run, but I do worry about those unexpected and unintended consequences.
I’m still shocked.
3 Comments on Unintended and unexpected consequences
a good summary, even if I voted leave
One of my thoughts when I saw the shocking results was that, among other things, this will really hurt the growing British sparkling wine industr. Then I read someone’s opinion that it will help it, since the price of imported sparkling wine (principally Champagne and Prosecco I guess) will go up with the sinking pound, so British consumers will turn to British sparklers. So who knows what the consequences will be.
A sad day for me, it feels like we took a backward step. Cost of wine will go up even if the often lovely English fizz becomes relatively cheaper.