Final Brexit deal passes four years after 2016 referendum

BY SOPHIE SOLOWAY ’23 & SABRINA EDWARDS ’20

The U.K. parliament formally approved a new Brexit deal on Thursday, Jan 30. This plan came six months after the original May deadline for former Prime Minister Theresa May to create an agreed-upon deal, as two delays had already set back the process.

In July of 2019, turmoil within parliament — largely due to the controversy surrounding Brexit — moved May to step down as Prime Minister. She was soon replaced by the newly-elected Conservative Party leader, Boris Johnson, in July 2019.

Many note that much of the controversy surrounding Brexit is linked to racist and xenophobic sentiments within the U.K., as leaving the European Union dictates that the nation can define its own immigration limitations, instead of following theEU’’s legislation. Critics of Brexit have also noted that there is a strong possibility of poor economic repercussions for those both in and outside of Britain.

“As a member of the European Union, I strongly believe that Brexit is causing a lot of unnecessary tension and disaster in the lives of both Europeans and non-Europeans,” Sophie Schempp ’23, a German citizen and Mount Holyoke student, said. Indeed, questions remain regarding the ways in which Brexit will shape Europe’s markets.

After years of threats of a no-deal Brexit — in which Britain would immediately cut ties with the EU — a transition to a new prime minister, and consistently rising hate crime rates, Johnson and the British parliament have finally agreed on the next steps for the nation, according to the BBC.

Mount Holyoke Professor of Politics Christopher Mitchell said, “Very few people have changed their mind from leave or remain.” When the referendum was initially voted on in 2016, it passed by a slim margin, with 52 percent in favor of leaving. England and Wales won the majority of votes to leave by less than 10 percent, while Scotland and North Ireland had majority voting to stay.

Age also plays an important role in people’s decisions. As shown on the BBC News, younger voters are more likely to vote to stay.

“Especially given the candidates that were put forward, this election wasn’t really fought on Brexit,” Mitchell said.

The country will be in a transitional period to formulate a more concrete plan for Great Britain’s future until Dec. 31, 2020.

Although the Brexit process has certainly been tumultuous, Mitchell believes that “the hard part of Brexit is just beginning now.

Shaping the long term relationship is the hard part,” he said. “This past part has been largely symbolic.”

In the coming months, the U.K. will have to reshape the relationship it has shared with the Euro-pean Union for decades. Arising questions will largely center around financial regulation. Models, including the European Free Trade Association, the European Economic Area and the EU-Australia Trade Agreement, have all been brought to the center of British political discourse, as citizens and leaders alike consider the trade relationship that the U.K. will forge with the distancing EU.

Mitchell believes that Lon- don may be at the center of these discussions, as the prospect of losing its access to European banking regulations creates fiscal fears for the nation.

“If London gets cut off from Europe, a lot of banks are going to leave London,” he said. “U.S. banks have already started shifting. If British access to Europe deteriorates, a lot of banks would leave London.”

There have also been questions of the U.K.’s changing relationship with the U.S. These changes could include closer economic relationships. Some critics of the way Brexit is being conducted have raised concerns that these closer trade connections could open up the U.K. National Health Service (NHS) to U.S. pharmaceutical companies and vendors.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that the NHS would be on the table in any trade talks, even as May and Johnson have both tried to refute his claims. Current Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn revealed 451 pages of documents in November 2019, alleging that they detailed talks between the Conservative leadership and the White House to include the NHS in future deals.

Although the road to Brexit has been long and somewhat tumultuous, with this latest development there is some expectation of a resolution to the issue within the next year.