March 10, 2020
By Anthony Paolazzi
Staff Writer
The United Kingdom officially left the European Union on Jan. 31. This departure, known as Brexit, commenced on June 23, 2016 after a national referendum took place to decide whether the UK should remain in the EU. In the end, there were 16,101,241 votes to remain and 17,410,742 to leave.
Nine months before the vote, Prime Minister Teresa May, who served from 2016 to 2019, triggered Article 50, which added more time to the Brexit process.
The UK was originally set to leave the EU on March 29, 2019. However, this was delayed because May was unable to attain her original withdrawal agreement from Parliament, with the House of Commons rejecting the deal three times.
Senior Adriana Vazquez said she believes the UK left the EU for political reasons.
“Many believed [the UK was] losing political control, being subjected to European Parliament policies and rules that they might not have been in accord with such as those of immigration,” Vazquez said. “I think the United Kingdom felt they needed to take control over their own nation by themselves, growing a sense of individualism that ultimately caused Brexit.”
History teacher Mr. Marcus said the UK ultimately decided to leave the EU because of pride.
“When you look at British history, they have always seen themselves as outcasts,” Marcus said.
He said Brexit will have economic effects on both the UK and EU.
“It will make people within the UK not want to invest in British manufacturing and other aspects, which could possibly cause a loss of jobs in the UK,” Marcus said.
He said the Euro, which is the EU’s currency, could also be negatively impacted due to the loss of business ties with the UK.
“When you look at British history, they have always seen themselves as outcasts.”
Like Marcus, history teacher Mr. Clifford said Brexit may put the UK’s economy in jeopardy.
“Brexit could possibly lower the UK’s economic growth over the next couple years due to a restriction on immigration with the EU,” said Clifford, explaining that members of the EU and UK will no longer be able to share a workforce since their citizens will not be able to easily relocate for employment opportunities.
According to thebalance.com, a personal finance website, financial growth in the UK during 2018 was at 1.4 percent, but in 2019, it fell to almost zero. This indicates that financial growth in 2020 may be a problem.
Clifford said the potentially negative economic repercussions of Brexit would likely be temporary.
“After [a] couple years, I think the UK will be able to make their economic growth increase,” said Clifford.
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