Civic Issues Blog: The Politics of Brexit
On the 31st of January 2020, the United Kingdom officially exited from the European Union in the long awaited, and long debated, Brexit plan. Legislation passed earlier in January by the Conservative party, led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson officially set up the terms under which the country would leave.
The decision to join the EU, then the European Economic Community, was debated in 1973 and the population’s satisfaction was confirmed by the first referendum in 1975. Almost four decades after the first referendum, the June 23, 2016 referendum vote was meant to decide if the United Kingdom should leave or remain in the European Union. Even though Scotland, Northern Ireland, and London has a majority vote to stay, the overall vote was to leave.
Since the incorporation of the United Kingdom into the EEC/EU, opinions have been mixed on the UK’s political and economic ties with continental Europe. David Cameron, the UK Prime Minister in 2013, promised a referendum. By the time the referendum took place in 2016, increased waves of immigration through continental Europe caused many voters to have more nationalist views and certainly contributed to the majority of Leave votes.
Even though this is a drastic change in the political and economic culture of Europe, and will continue to impact the world. According to the BBC, the Leave vote was only 52% and Remain was only 48%. This simple 4 percent difference has heated up tensions and polarized the United Kingdom, which had been known for avoiding the bipartisan system of the United States,
Brexit talks truly began after the 2017 submission to the EU to begin the withdrawal, which allowed the UK to exit two years later in 2019. Disagreements and division brought about by the proposals of Theresa May, the prime minister until 2019, delayed Brexit until 2020.
Now, The UK and EU must decide their economic and political relationship. As a member of the EU, the United Kingdom participated in free trade and the movement of people between countries within the EU. Now people with dual citizenship or who live and work between the UK and EU countries must wait anxiously as the 11 month “transition period” begins and the UK and EU works out how they will interact as separate entities on paper, yet united in terms of culture and people.
Participants in these discussions must be careful to acknowledge the importance of being fair, not only to individual countries and entities, but more importantly to individuals who feel loyal to one area or both. After being so connected over the last 40 years, the cultures, economies, security, utilities, and access to resources has been blurred between the UK and the EU.
They must also consider the racial tensions sparked by this divide. The current UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has been noted for his harsh nationalism. These views have allowed him to be more efficient in pushing Brexit through and finalizing the split last month. Unfortunately, this is has also led to rising racial tensions as the United Kingdom may think they are free from illegal immigration, of which they are not, and their citizens may focus on the idea that reclaiming jobs held by immigrants who will leave will allow them to recover from any economic impacts of Brexit. Not only is this morally wrong, this is also incorrect financially.
According to a projection published in the New York Times, “ the country’s [UK] economy would be 4 percent to 9 percent smaller if Britain left the European Union than if it remained.” It is unlikely that this would be accounted for in anyway.
The United Kingdom and the European Union are already aware of the tensions they have caused between their politicians and their citizens. Both groups, especially the UK, must be keenly aware of the tensions within their populations and how they will react to the decisions between this transition period. Although many of these debates seem to be political in nature and may be presented as politicians and economists arguing about semantics of the UK’s departure, their every decision will have major impacts on political restructuring and the daily lives of their citizens. Their decisions will affect all forms of relationships between their entities and will seriously disrupt the lives of individuals around the world by changing prices, customs, and travel rules.
Articles Cites:
BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887
NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/world/europe/what-is-brexit.html