Britain has left the European Union to the shock of many, including Prime Minister David Cameron, who’s none too pleased by this. If Britain is to sign on the bottom line, there may potentially need to be several changes made to trade tariffs, migration and the regulation of cars to agriculture. It’s going to have a rippling effect on the economy and immigration policy.
As the UK is in the early stages of it’s revoke, it is not yet legally withdrawn from the EU and has currently been voted by the people in favour of a Brexit vote. There is still a chance that the Brexit vote could theoretically be overturned or blocked. A summit must be held in order to finalise this arrangement and is likely to be either on the 28th or 29th June.
According to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, the member state must be notified of the EU of its withdrawal. Once Britain invokes Article 50, it will have a two-year window in which to negotiate a new treaty to replace the terms of EU membership.
Below is a picture of David Cameron who was campaigning to stay in the European Union.
In the best-case scenario, Britain may be able to negotiate access to the European market that isn’t that different from what it has now.
British Prime Minister David Cameron didn’t want to hold a vote on Brexit at all, ferociously campaigning with his “IN” campaign. But in 2014, he faced growing pressure from the populist right over immigration and Britain’s EU membership. Resentment of EU immigrants such as Poland and Lithuania who are struggling economically helped to drive the Brexit vote.
Cameron had to hold a referendum on leaving the EU as his Conservative Party won the 2015 election. The BBC was quoted as saying, “It would be seen as political suicide to go against the will of the people as expressed in a referendum.” Senior members of the UK government, from the same party, campaigned on opposite sides. It was one of the biggest issues in British politics in decades and created quite a spectacle.
The victory of the “Leave” campaign could fatally weaken Cameron’s standing within his own party. Conservative members of Parliament could essentially move Cameron out of office. In turn a more Eurosceptical prime minister could be put in his place.
There are major financial concerns with The UK government exiting the EU. The British economy could drop between 3.8 and 7.5 percent by 2030.
An estimated 1.2 million Brits live in other EU countries, while about 3 million non-British EU nationals live in Britain. When Britain was a member of the EU, citizens were able to live and work anywhere in the EU. This included foreigners and numbers who could move across the English Channel with minimal paperwork. Withdrawing from the EU would put more pressure on residents and foreigners with passports and residency rules. Some British immigrants may lose their right to continue living and working in the UK and be deported.
Critics say the whole identity of the UK could be torn apart. The UK is after all made up of four “countries” consisting of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Polls have shown that 44 per cent of Scottish people voted to make their country independent in 2014. Essentially Scotland could likely petition for admission to the EU in its own right.
There will be an interesting tension for the four countries.
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