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Does it matter? The UK can't enforce anything outside its borders. Just putting another nail in the coffin of UK tech startups that aren't in Financial Services.

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It matters if you're in the UK and you're a tech hobbyist.

In my opinion the UK has always been against that group and others who stick out, and that's not going to change in the future.

Unfortunately if you're a tech hobbyist in the UK your best option is to leave, especially if you're any good with technology. There are plenty of other countries that will treat you far better than the UK ever would.

Absolutely not true historically. We were brilliant in the early 80s, largely thanks to Mrs. Thatcher.

Agree. She was a polarizing figure in the UK, but the newly-installed Conservative government of the early 80s certainly moved fast to respond to both the threat and the opportunity of the coming information revolution. In partnership with the BBC, they instituted the Computer Literacy Project which comprised education, television programs, subsidized computers for schools, and of course the BBC Microcomputer.

For those who want to read more, there's a great archive site here: https://clp.bbcrewind.co.uk/history and an interesting book from MIT Press (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262034036/now-the-chips-are-dow...) which covers this period.

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