With Britain's recent decision to leave the European Union, retired Portage resident Bill Knott says no one really knows where things will wind up. He explains background situations may have contributed to the decision, including France's original decision to veto Britain's membership in the market from the start, to bureaucracy in Brussels, and even the UK's internal problems .

"When Europe tried to get together after the second world war, all the countries got together and started talking about it. And they decided to form a common European Community -- the EC. France vetoed Britain coming in. And the Brits have held that against them for some time. Mind you, there's centuries of iffy war stuff between Britain and France anyway. So, that's nothing new. Finally they joined the EU, but on the condition that they did not have to use the Euro. So, Britain's always maintained its own sterling; it's maintained its own monetary policy; its own fiscal policies. And over the last little while the bureaucracy in Brussels, of the European Union, is almost getting out of control. They're saying you can't have more of an angle in your banana than 3 degrees, and stuff like that. It's just absurd. The British do not like to picked to death. Britain is also very insular. They're going through a bit of a problem right now because Scotland wants to secede. Wales is getting uppity, 'I mean, my goodness me! You know.' They're just going over all the nonsense in Northern Ireland, and England just got turfed by Iceland in football. Now, if you can find anything worse than that, I'm not sure (laughs). So, there is a general feeling of malaise in England.

"There are two kinds of communities in England. Not physical communities, but, sort of, thinking communities. One is centred around London where all the money is. That's where the power is. That's where education is controlled by London across the country. It's not like here, where local school boards decide. Everything is centralized. So, there's a general resentment sometimes for London. It's an attraction as well for all the young people. But it's also resented because of its power and its richness. There's a history also in the middle of England -- Manchester, Leicester, those kinds of towns -- there's a history of labour problems and/or strong labour movements. When it's 'us' against 'them' between Britain and the European Union, it's also 'us against them' with pockets of people here and there in England. And it all seemed to come to a head. "

Knott says it's hard to predict what may happen.

"I'm not sure where it's going to go. I guess no one knows. The European Union countries are now saying, 'Would you kindly get your act together and invoke Charter Number 50?' Number 50 is their thing that has them say, 'Now we're starting to negotiate.' Britain is saying, 'No, we're not going to negotiate yet. We want to sit around for a little bit.' And the countries in Europe are saying, 'No, no, no. You said you're going to leave. Start negotiating your terms of leaving,' because each of those countries have their own problems. Spain has a big problem with Catalonia. It's like the Quebec of Spain. There are regions in France that are not happy. Alsace-Lorraine is not happy with France. But then they've always been not happy with France. All those countries have their own political problems. And in addition, of course, there's the question of immigration of a variety of nations and a variety of cultures, both in Europe and in Britain. That's something that a lot of people are concerned with both ways. They are encouraging immigration and they're against immigration. They need people to work, but, 'They'll take our jobs.' 'We won't do it, but they can't do it.' This kind of thing."

He points out some issues that might concern us.

"The value of the pound has dropped badly. That is going to affect positively and negatively our lives. Positively, if we want to travel over there because the British pound will be less, so we'll get more for our buck. But not that much. Just a little bit. Definitely negatively if we have any family over there, if people have relatives, and so on, because they're going to have problems dealing with things. Their economy is going to go through a period of stress until things sort themselves out."

When it's all said and done, Knott suspects Britain may surprise us.

"I'm still reluctant to believe Britain will finally leave the EU. I think in their negotiations they'll say, 'Listen, let's renegotiate.' A lot of the EU people are saying, 'No. We're not going to renegotiate.' But I think they will. Britain, like any other country, has to, and is, trading with the world. The European Union is a huge block. We have a free trade agreement that we're either just signing, or about to sign, with the European Union -- Canada is. That's going to be a tremendous boost to our economy. I hope very much that we soon sign the TPP -- the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- because all of those countries surrounding the Pacific Ocean, that's a huge, absolutely half the world's economy. And to have a free trade agreement with them is really going to be worth something. So, free trade is getting down to people, basics. But as an overall general thing, of course, it's the way the world's always been. You trade with each other. Cavemen traded with each other. So, Britain will. They will continue trading. They'll find ways to trade, and I think five or ten years from now, they'll still be there. But still getting beat by Iceland in soccer (laughs)."

Knott adds, "I'm really enjoying the Euro Cup right now in football -- soccer. Because Iceland is 'the little land that could.' And they're playing France next. And I will just love it if they beat France. Sorry, I've gotten offtrack (smiles)."