I meant 'mainland' as in 'the continent', sorry for the confusion.
To get to your points:
We import twice as much from the EU as we export to them, how are they going to cope with that?
So you're saying that the EU will be hurt, because the UK is heavily reliant on EU imports? I think you might have it backwards. While the UK is a very important trading partner, it's not the most important one. The EU on the other hand, is the UK's largest trading partner - the most important one. 43% of all UK exports go to the EU (
http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7851#fullreport).
And what about all the money that it sucks out of our economy. I suspect it will go bust without it.
According to a report by the Office for Budget Responsibility "The UK will save no money from leaving the European Union over the next five years and could be paying its Brexit divorce bill until at least 2064" (
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/13/uk-save-money-brexit-obr-divorce-bill)
A leaked government report shows that any Brexit scenario will negatively impact the British economy. New trade deals will not even come close to replacing what is lost by leaving the EU (
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jan/30/key-questions-latest-leaked-brexit-forecasts)
So no, no one seriously claims that the EU is "sucking out money" out of the UK's economy - not even May and her cabinet.
Oh Yes - the borders. That's something that needs to be sorted out by the Irish
Eh, I'm pretty sure that's very much in the UK's own interest, especially since they're the ones that started this whole Brexit circus. Having a land border with the EU would mean you'd have to put up border controls, basically dividing both countries. You'd have to put in some kind of police/military presence, too. Hmmm, I wonder if that could be a sensitive issue for anyone... nope, can't think of anyone...
I don't know enough about how Brexit might impact EU finances - but rest assured that most Europeans speak English to some extent, especially those working in finance. It's not difficult