Literally, Brexit is the combination of the words Britain and exit.
This colloquial term is used to describe the United Kingdom departure from the European Union in January, 2020. This came as the result of a 51.89% majority vote in 2016.
During the “transition period”, spanning from the initial vote in 2016 to the completion of Brexit in 2020, negotiations on new treaties took place while the UK complied with EU laws and rules (What is Brexit).
As you can tell, the vote is very split.
Notably, nationality differed significantly. Voter metrics show that only 38% of people in Scotland voted to leave the EU while 53% of people in England voted the same. Although Scotland’s population is only 8.4% of the UK, meaning their votes didn’t matter as much compared to other, larger populations.
Why?
The UK never seemed fully committed to the EU, retaining their own currency, the pound sterling, instead of the EU euro. The UK’s economic distance from the EU seems to be a factor in their decision to leave. Stemming from the European financial crisis, beginning in 2009, the UK alongside many other European countries resorted to austerity measures (economic frugality) to mediate economic downturn.
This frugality strained the European peoples enough to advocate for policy and governmental change. The conservative UK government conceded to growing support towards opposing political parties (primarily UKIP – UK Independence Party, supporters of Brexit) and promised a referendum to exit the EU (Blame it on the Banking Crisis).
Other issues such as national pride, sovereignty, and safety were major reasons for leaving the EU. Even with the predicted economic downturn resulting from Brexit, many remained unyielding.
Leave.EU, a UKIP linked group, maintains the “[treasury predictions] worst-case scenario of [losing] £4,300 per household is a bargain basement price for the restoration of national independence and safe, secure borders.” (The Guardian)
What does this mean?
The UK must negotiate trade agreements with other countries in absence of ones maintained through the EU. Although, the UK seems to be replicating majorly similar trade agreements to previous ones.
Additionally, the UK has lost around 330,000 of its workers (BBC). This is only around 1% of its total workforce, but some sectors such as transport and retail were hit hard.
Other metrics also predict an economic downturn. The UK is the only major economy that has shown a negative GDP growth since 2019. A recent study by the Center of European Reform suggests that the UK is 5.5% poorer now than it would be in a non-Brexit world.
The UK’s government is hopeful with Brexit, though, maintaining that UK sovereignty is valuable and necessary for future development.
Some short-term benefits the UK government acknowledges include:
- Increased border control resulting in less criminals and false IDs.
- Restored democratic control over their lawmaking.
- Taken back control of UK waters, ultimately benefiting Fishermen and increasing opportunities for coastal cities.
- Fair access to the UK welfare system: no longer giving preferential status to EU migrants.
E.T.C…
Overall, Brexit was predicted to have and shows a negative economic effect on the UK. For many, leaving the UN was necessary and worth the initial cost. As of now nothing substantially negative has happened and we can hope for the best!
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Yas Queen is what som kids say not me in real life I said it online but not in real life.