Brexit: Oh What A Beautiful Mess- Hayden Budofsky

A couple of weeks ago I was scrolling through the New York Times when I came across a peculiar article that I swore I had seen before. It was titled "Brexit Deal in Hand, Boris Johnson Faces an Uphill Struggle in Parliament." The first part of the title really struck me, where it said "Brexit Deal in Hand." I contemplated to myself, delving deep into my memory. I felt like I had heard this news multiple times before and I wondered exactly why. Then, at that moment, a memory from the not so distant past came into view. I vaguely remembered seeing an article by The Guardian around a year ago, that confirmed that a Brexit deal had been agreed to, but I couldn't bother myself to actually read it. Now that I thought about it, as an American with plenty of my own political drama, I really hadn't cared to know anything about this "Brexit." I mean, I knew basically what it was, but I didn't know any of the history, politics, or major people involved. All I knew was that it existed. So on that note, I decided to do a little research; here's what I found:

First things first, what is Brexit? To put it simply, it is the idea that the United Kingdom (Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England) will leave the European Union. The EU is a political union that consists of twenty-eight European countries that allow free trade and free movement between their people. Ever since the UK joined the EU in 1973, the idea of backing out of it has been a highly contested and debated topic. The two major parties in the United Kingdom, the Labour party (generally pro-Europe) and the Conservative Party (generally pro-Brexit) have been split more than ever on this controversial topic in recent years.

Back in 2015, former Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, with a backdrop of an ongoing migrant crisis, and political and economic unrest, tried to renegotiate the relationship between the UK and the EU. In February of 2016, he announced that he would set June 23rd as the date for an official referendum for Brexit. On that day, polling booths had a 71.8% voter turnout and the referendum passed by a small 51.9% to 48.1% margin. Although this is true, Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to remain in the EU, while Wales and England voted to leave. In late 2016, Cameron resigned and Theresa May, a conservative, was voted into office.
       Theresa May announced her immediate intention to leave the EU, and on March 29, 2017, she signed an official order which would start a two-year countdown to the UK's departure. Yet, exactly two years later, the British parliament, on three separate occasions, rejected May's departure agreement. This was mostly because her deal was designed to create completely open borders between Ireland and Northern Irland, something that most conservatives didn't approve of. The European Council eventually set the new deadline for October 31st- six days from now. May eventually resigned and Boris Johnson (also conservative) took place as prime minister. On October 17th, which was last week, Johnson announced that a new and revised deal had been agreed on by the UK and the EU. Now, with the deal at a standstill in the very divided British parliament, Johnson has been granted an extension by the EU, and a date for the official departure will soon be announced.

To be clear, Brexit is much more complex than how I describe it and has been going on for much longer than since 2016. Yet, it is much easier to understand when simplified to a three-year span, from David Cameron's referendum to Boris Johnson's current Brexit deal. I hope it all made sense to you guys!

 As an American, I found it very interesting that the UK deals with the same issues as we do, politically. We are both very divided party-wise, we both deal with massively debated issues, and we both, most importantly, put the power in the people to make decisions. Brexit is clearly a huge deal if it passes through parliament and can either spell the downfall or rise of the UK on the world stage. Back in 2016, David Cameron summed up the seriousness of the situation perfectly saying:
    "A vote to leave is the gamble of the century. And it would be our children's futures on the table if we were to roll the dice."


Boris Johnson (left) agrees to a deal with the           Referendum results back in 2016 where the
president of the EU, Jean-Claude Juncker (right)     majority (51.9%) chose to leave the EU

Sources:
https://www.history.com/news/the-history-behind-brexit

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/world/europe/brexit-boris-johnson-eu.html

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/25/michel-barnier-eu-brexit-extension-boris-johnson-election

https://www.rte.ie/news/special-reports/2016/0622/797347-brexit-quotes/