Society

Brexit



There is a big issue in Europe. It is Brexit, the UK leaving the European Union (EU). The UK voted for Brexit in June. This decision was very shocking all over the world. The value of the British pound decreased, and the money markets were strained. Why did the UK vote to leave the EU?

The first problem is economics. The EU has faced economic problems since 2008. The UK had 6.1% unemployment in 2014. It is because of the recession. The UK thought staying in the EU couldn’t solve British economic problems.

The second problem is refugees. Britain doesn’t want to take more Middle East refugees. European migration has increased in the past 10 years. Many British people are afraid that these immigrants will take their jobs, especially in the manual labor and service industries. In addition, the UK is worried about Islamic State (ISIS). IS attacked Paris in 2015 and Brussels in March. It makes the UK hesitate to accommodate the refugees.

The last problem is differences between generations. In the UK, the majority of old people wanted to leave, but many young people wanted to remain. The UK’s old people argued the UK has low influence in the EU. The UK is the 4th largest financial contributor, but its budget allocation is 12th in the EU. Therefore, leaving the EU is a new opportunity to change the UK. However, young people didn’t agree. Today’s youth think Brexit will make the UK’s economic situation unpredictable. Young people are afraid of an uncertain future, so they voted to remain in the EU.

If Britain carries out Brexit, they will face a lot of problems. They will face hurdles to trade with the EU. The UK Finance Ministry said, “The value of the pound will decrease by 12% in 2 years, GDP will fall by 3.6%, and inflation will increase by 2.3%.” We will wait and see how the UK solves Brexit and what the effects of the Brexit situation will be.