EVERYONE makes mistakes. Most of the time, even the most stubborn of individuals will eventually recognise such errors of judgement for what they are, and abandon a particular course of action as the evidence stacks up that whatever it is they are pursuing is just a plain bad idea.

Some people take longer than others to admit they are wrong, but the vast majority get there in the end.

Not when it comes to Brexit though, it seems, with the red, white and blue mist continuing to cloud the views of Leave zealots in the UK. Of course, it would probably be silly to think we could apply some logic to the febrile EU debate, given the nonsense used to whip the Brexiters up into a frenzy ahead of the fateful referendum vote back in June 2016.

Taking the emotion out of the situation, the fact of the matter is that the evidence showing why leaving the European Union is such a stupid idea continues to rack up on a daily basis.

However, it seems people do not want to listen. Those who prefer to stay in the EU are, in an unimaginative and utterly tedious manner, dismissed as “Remoaners” by the Brexit camp. At the extreme end of the name-calling, some Brexiters even refer to people in the Remain camp as “traitors”. It is a sad and worrying situation.

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This week, like pretty much every other one since June 23, 2016, has seen the torrent of warnings about the hazards of Brexit continue, from key sectors including food and drink manufacturing, and construction. And a survey from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants showed a fall in business confidence amid continuing Brexit uncertainty.

The latest migration figures, published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics, painted a truly alarming picture. The data showed net migration of people to the UK fell by the largest amount on record in the 12 months after the Brexit vote.

Net long-term migration to the UK was estimated at around 230,000 in the year to June, down by about 106,000 on the prior 12 months. Around 82,000 of this decline related to citizens of other EU countries, with net migration from the bloc at its lowest since the year to June 2013.

The construction sector’s major trade bodies and umbrella groups have this week joined forces to warn the UK Government of the dangers of a “cliff-edge” in terms of access to EU workers as Brexit looms.

The Federation of Master Builders, Association for Consultancy & Engineering, Build UK, Civil Engineering Contractors Association, Construction Products Association, Home Builders Federation, and National Federation of Builders emphasise their view that “for some time, there will likely remain an ongoing need for significant levels of skilled EU workers”.

Their warnings are stark, in terms of the UK possibly not even being able to build what it needs. The seven construction sector groups say the UK Government should as soon as possible agree a transition period of at least two years. They emphasise that, during this time, EU workers arriving in the UK should “continue to have a path to settled status”.

Nelson Ogunshakin, chief executive of the Association for Consultancy & Engineering, said: “Without the skills that many EU nationals bring to the industry, we could be facing severe setbacks to the UK’s national infrastructure pipeline. ACE’s own surveys show that there is an increase in the number [of] EU staff leaving the UK for jobs on the Continent and this will only get worse if we do not bring certainty to EU workers’ residency rights.”

His warning is certainly backed up by the ONS figures, and its substance contrasts starkly with the vacuous words of the arch-Brexiters.

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While the UK Government flounders, the Brexit calamity is staring us in the face. Now. And, transition deal or not, many people from other EU countries will surely continue to have misgivings about moving to, or staying in, the UK amid the Brexit fervour.

As The Herald reported this week, senior Scottish food and drink industry figures have voiced their fears for the future, in a study undertaken by Jules Pearson, an associate director with corporate recruitment firm Aspen People.

David Reid, a food and drink marketing veteran with more than 30 years of experience, said Brexit will “undoubtedly have a huge impact on Scottish businesses who rely on overseas labour in food production as well as within the hospitality industry”.

Mr Reid, who runs consultancy Because Brands Matter, added: “If wage costs rise because talent is increasingly harder to find, many companies could be forced out of business."

Ton Christiaanse, chairman of beef processor AK Stoddart, said Scottish producers could become uncompetitive if they faced import tariffs in Europe, citing his view that such an impact would outweigh benefits of sterling weakness.

And, noting companies were already holding off investing in the UK because of Brexit uncertainty, he declared: “We will potentially have a shortage of EU labour if there will be stricter immigration [policy].”

Meanwhile, Bryan Buchan, chief executive of industry body Scottish Engineering, warned yesterday: “We continue to be dogged by the blight of skills shortages, and to be fair this will probably get worse before it gets better. The likely loss of some of our skilled immigrant workforce due to sterling’s relative weakness against the euro is already being felt in some quarters.”

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Sometimes it seems the Brexiters are in a parallel universe in which their vacuum of knowledge about the reality of the situation is somehow making it impossible for them to hear the warnings. Then you remember it is probably, for at least some of those leading us towards Brexit, just sheer, ideological, bloody-mindedness.

Unfortunately, many ordinary people who voted for Brexit continue to be beguiled by the nonsense they are hearing from the arch-Brexiters. They somehow believe the UK’s worsening economic - not to mention social - problems are somehow the fault of the “Remoaners” rather than being the inevitable consequences of the move towards Brexit.

Some Brexiters seem galvanised by the shambles, as if it is a good thing the UK has decided to shoot itself in the foot so that it can show some kind of British bulldog spirit in prevailing against the odds. It is a sorry state of affairs indeed. Yet no-one seems willing or able to call a halt to it.