Post-Brexit – what now?
Two weeks have passed since the Brexit vote. It has been a tumultuous time both in the UK and globally. The Prime Minister has resigned and the 2 leading characters of the leave campaign, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage have both stepped down. No one seems keen to take on the challenge of implementing the Brexit referendum outcome.
The Conservative party is busy choosing a new party leader and effectively a new PM and the labour party are split by internal fighting over whether Jeremy Corbyn is the right man to lead the opposition. Whilst all this is at play, nothing much is happening on the Brexit front – apart from plenty of speculation.
Unfortunately, the uncertainty and lack of any clear plan is bad for the economy. The longer the parties dither, the longer it will take to get a clear view of the real impact of the vote on UK and the EU. What is clear so far is that the stock market has taken a hard hit as has the value of the pound. The housing market has slowed right down and global corporations are considering their options of relocating to other EU countries. On a personal level, millions of immigrants in the UK are concerned about their long term future and abroad similar worries are held by Britons living in other EU countries.
Among all the speculation, many are doubting if the Article 50 that starts the official exit proceedings will ever be invoked. Others say that there is now no turning back and the exit is inevitable however it is likely to take a long time to become reality. That much is quite certain: this process is not going to be fast. The benefits that leave voters were hoping for are yet to materialise and currently greatly overshadowed by the immediate negative impact the vote had on the economy. Here’s to hoping that the longer term future looks brighter!
As we wrote before the vote, in the short to medium term not much is likely to change in legal terms. Even after a Brexit comes into effect, it will take years to untangle UK from EU regulation. In legal terms, many experts predict that a lot of the regulation will remain in force or similar local legislation will be passed. For example, Ruth Christy has commented that “despite the claims that businesses are stifled by EU labour laws, the fact is that that many Employment law rights either originated in the UK or have become deeply embedded in UK law as the UK’s attitudes to social issues have evolved. A move to scale back all but the most minor Employment law rights would, in all likelihood, be politically unpopular.”
In the meantime, the average Joe mainly feels the impact of Brexit in their pocket when planning the next holiday abroad. With pound plummeting against dollar and euro, heading anywhere outside this little island has become a lot more expensive practically overnight. With the holiday season upon us, that may well heighten the feelings of Bregret, which was felt by some voters who did not foresee the economic impact of their vote to leave the EU.