Frankly if anybody believed the EU was angelic pure and a shining light of democracy then it’s also not surprising they also believed the leave campaign and they really do deserve the bridge they bought.
As I remember the FTL debate the argument as much as anything was that it stopped certain operators using permissive FTLs to undercut other operators in the EU…I know in an ideal world EASA would have rushed to buy into the supposed shining light that was CAP 371 but we’re back to the world of European organizations, horse trading and negotiating again….
The ironic thing (not) is that by putting themselves outside EASA I suspect British pilots have perhaps (only IMHO) made it easier for UK based companies to migrate even further away from 371, rather than move back toward it…and given the state of the industry in the UK the CEOs/CFOs have plenty of ammunition should they wish to go down that road with the UK CAA/HMG