Brexit

Given my connections to the UK and business interests, many readers have been asking me what I think about Brexit.  If I were a smoker, what I would do is just light up another Gauloise and say, "bof", because there are plenty of reasons why it is unlikely to have an effect on me, or at the very least, not worth worrying about.

I normally view Britain with derision, but sometimes, business expediency takes over.  My mother gave up her British citizenship, but I took it out prior to moving to the UK to start my career in the fashion industry.  The requirements are spelled out at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/483729/MN1_Guide_December_2015.pdf and there is an example that matches my case almost exactly in section 3(2).  As I had lived in Britain for just over three years, I am able to register my son as a British citizen (the paperwork is going through at present).  There are lots of things I hate about Britain (fat women, rubbish food, lack of TGVs etc), but with Brexit on the cards, I want to keep doors open for any children I have, should they need to live in the UK to start a career: - pretty much the only advantage the UK has is a vibrant jobs market compared with France.  Maybe a reversal of fortunes will have taken place when my children reach adulthood though?

That said, Brexit is unlikely to have much of an effect on me.  I expect there may be some additional admin if the UK leaves the single market: - many buyers of my magazine are English women looking to stylish French women for inspiration.  However, I am sure this will be surmountable with the right advice and legal representation.  The UK never looked set to join the Schengen zone anyway, so there is no reason to think travel arrangements will be affected, certainly with my British passport.

The narrow-minded approach of the EU and the requirement to form trade deals collectively means there may be more opportunities for me if Brexit takes place.  I am loathed to open an office in Britain, but it can be done if there is business expediency involved, tee hee!  One possible location for a London office is the vicinity of Old Street station, just two stops from St. Pancras International, as this area contains lots of silly bobo (bourgeois bohemian) trendy companies and is a magnet for silly bobo creative types.  Granted, I am creative, but I am down-to-earth as well as fashionable: - as I have repeatedly stated, though Frenchwomen follow fashion closely, their preference is still for timeless elegance over fads.  Poking fun at Zoë Williams, such an elegant and simple philosophy, it could almost be a French dessert: - la moitié, s'il vous plaît!  Anyway, jokes aside, if the UK can quickly conclude trade deals with other nations, it could make it much easier to enter new markets.

France has been famous in Europe for abusing the Common Agricultural Policy, with the end result being that British taxpayers subsidise French farmers who just don't want to modernise.  On one hand, I think there is some merit in that, given that they produce high-quality food, whose production processes cannot always be short-cutted, but on the other hand, I have to run my business efficiently like most people besides farmers and I don't enjoy much if any protection from market forces like the farmers do.  It was a nice arrangement, the British paying to subsidise our farmers so that we could eat properly for less and obviously, there will be some readjustment, but we will see how that goes.

I am aware of the political turmoil in the UK.  Jeremy Corbyn has lost the confidence of his MPs, David Cameron is resigning and I find it "bbbbbbbaffling!!!" that Nigel Farage is resigning, having won his victory at the referendum.  I am aware that Theresa May is the frontrunner at present to be David Cameron's replacement.  Not surprisingly, there is no talk about "girl power" this time around.  Some people would ask me if I think the next UK prime minister should be female in order to set an example for gender equality.  I would unequivocally say, "No!  No!  No!"

Foreseeing a likely question, Ségolène Royal and Marine Le Pen are two ladies with the opposite offerings.  Ségolène Royal is a lady with a fabulous appearance, but awful policies (socialism that has kept France in an economic quagmire for so long), Marine Le Pen is a lady who does herself a huge injustice by carrying large amounts of surplus pounds, but she has some policy ideas that may bring France out the doldrums.

All sorts of things could happen with Brexit and we will see how events transpire.