Whether it feels like it or not we are currently witnessing history unfold. But that’s the thing about history, it’s not history until it’s in the past; those who live through it don’t have the fortune of hindsight which allows them to contextualise events. That’s what we were taught at school wasn’t it? That was GCSE history, divide the causes of X event into short-term and long-term on this worksheet in silence and we’ll discuss it as a class in 15 minutes.
So how do we know that Britain’s decision to vote leave and exit the European Union is the stuff of history? The fact that the entire world is reeling from the decision is a pretty good indicator. Perhaps this will turn out to be the best decision our country has ever made, perhaps it won’t we’ll have to wait and see.
While we wait what we’re left with is a lot of unanswered questions. The Washington Post, somewhat patronisingly, reported on Friday that we British were ‘frantically Googling “what is the EU?” just hours after voting to leave it.
The thing about Brexit is this: suddenly everyone seems to be an expert. An expert on the economy, an expert on politics, an expert on European Law or an expert on the deep, dark workings of Boris Johnson’s sub consciousness. The reality is that we aren’t all experts and that’s OK. If you’re a political nerd that’s great but it’s also fine if you aren’t.
It’s going to take a long time to understand why our country has voted the way that it did. It’s also OK that the EU debate has been a confusing one – EU law is complex and the European Union’s workings are intricate.
There’s no shame in asking questions, especially about what happens next as we face so much uncertainty as a country. If there were no questions, there would never be any answers. This must be a pretty great time if you've got a Masters' Degree in EU Law, that degree is gonna start paying for itself soon. For those of us who don't know the EU inside out in all its intricacies, it's pretty damn confusing. And so, here are some of the most googled questions on the subject of Brexit:
When did the UK join the EU?
The European Union was founded between 1945 and 1959 in the aftermath of the Second World War, with the aim of preventing conflict on that scale from ever occurring again.
In 1957 the Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Comunityalso known as the common market, which allowed nations to trade freely with one another. Britain applied to join the EEC in august 1961, our membership came into force in January 1973. The European Union has been evolving ever since with us as one of 28 (not 27 without us) member states.
Why did Britain leave the EU?
There has actually been a referendum of Britain’s membership of the European Union before. It was in 1975 and over 67% of voters supported the then Labour government’s campaign to stay in the European Economic Community.
Since then there have been debates about Britain’s membership of the EU and the Eurosceptic anti-European Union political party, UKIP, have headed up debates about us leaving.
David Cameron promised a referendum before he ran for a second term as Prime Minister in 2013. Some say he did this to please people in his own party who didn’t want Britain to stay in the EU, other say it was because mainstream political parties were losing votes to UKIP and some say it was because there was a genuine anti-Europe feeling in the UK population.
As to exactly why the 51.9% of people who voted leave decided to make that decision, only time will tell.
What is 'Brexit'?
Brexit is an abbreviation. It’s two words squashed together: Britain and exit. It’s the term which has been used by politicians and the media to describe the possibility of a British exit from the European Union which, on Friday, became a reality.
What will happen if Britain leaves the EU?
We have left. It may not be official, by which I mean that Article 50 hasn’t been triggered because our Prime Minister has resigned and is effectively a lame duck, but make no mistake – Britain has voted out, we are leaving the EU and they want us to get on with it.
As to what will happen once we’ve left officially through the correct channels the only honest answer is we don’t really know what will happen. There are lots of theories as to how this is going to work, perhaps we will be able to remain part of the single market, perhaps we won’t. Perhaps we will leave via Article 50, perhaps we won’t. Perhaps things won’t change all that much, perhaps our country’s economy will have to be completely reshaped.
We are just going to have to hold tight and see how this plays out.
What does leaving the EU mean for the UK?
At the moment it means a lot of fighting in the Conservative party, fighting in the Labour party, confusion amongst the general population, celebration from some who voted leave and commiserations amongst those who wanted to stay, all the while Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon seems to be the only person who has her shit fully together.
As to what this means for our country long term opinions seem to differ. According to Vote Leave’s poster boy, Boris Johnson, we’re still going to be a part of Europe and things won’t change that much. According to key European leaders, however, we’ve decided to leave the EU and, until we leave formally, there will be no negotiations as to what this means for the UK.
Still holding tight for answers. Not making this up, we assure you. You couldn’t make it up.
Let us know if you have any other questions about Brexit @thedebrief
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The Legacy Of Brexit Has Made People Of Colour Feel Unwelcome In Their Own Country
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.