Leave-voting parents who moved to Spain discover they can’t stream their favourite shows after Brexit

After what feels like about a million years, Brexit is officially “done” (sort of).

Having officially left the EU on 31 March, the transition period in which the UK still adhered to EU trading rules ended on 31 December. So from New Year’s Day, the deal that Boris Johnson struck with the EU came into effect, fundamentally changing Britain’s relationship with the EU.

For now, the long-term consequences of this change remain uncertain. Brexiteers say this will mark a new era of prosperity for the UK, while Remainers say Britain’s place in the world will slip as a result of it.

Just days into Brexit, two parents have discovered a very small, yet annoying, consequence of their votes.

On 1 January, Twitter user @missregardless shared some Whatsapp messages that she was sent by her Brexit-voting parents, who now live in… Spain.

Her parents asked why they couldn’t stream Sky on their iPad.

After looking into why this might be, @missregardless stumbled across Sky’s “streaming abroad” help section, which clarified that following the end of the Brexit transition period, people would be unable to stream content from abroad “in the same way”. And this isn’t just happening to Sky, either, as the company tells customers lots of streaming services are having the same issue.

Oh dear.

Lots of the replies were less than sympathetic, but Joey clarified that she respects her parents’ right to vote however they want and just thought it was funny.

And given it’s unlikely anyone’s vote on Brexit hinged on the ability to stream TV abroad, we’re inclined to agree that it’s a harmless bit of parent-child humour.