Brexit Destroyed the UK — Three Major Reasons the UK Wants to Return to the European Union
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Some of my readers will know that I studied in the United Kingdom for a semester (Portsmouth). I also wanted to start my graduate studies in the UK; I applied to Oxford University and Edinburgh University after finishing my undergraduate degree at UBC Okanagan, in British Columbia, Canada. I was denied at Oxford but accepted to Edinburgh.
Ultimately, I decided to go to McGill University in Montreal because the UK had just left the European Union, meaning I would have to pay approximately $40,000 (Canadian) for the year at Edinburgh just for tuition.
Many others across the EU felt similarly. The past two years have drastically dropped EU students to the UK. Everything from trade to investment has also been affected.
Of course, it’s no secret that Brexit has gone horribly. And that is a shame for the people of the isles. The positive is that isolationist policy seems not to be working out — and I’m here for it.
Before we get to some of the negatives. Let’s discuss some of the motivations for Brexit that Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, and the rest of the proponents argued for.
These include, (1) a desire for sovereignty and (2) increased trade on their own terms that could lead to more economic growth.
Proponents argued that there would be a period of economic stagnation immediately after Brexit (in 2016) that would be inevitable. They claimed, similar to the 1990s in post-communist societies in Central and Eastern Europe, that economics had to be sacrificed in the short term to provide long-term benefits.
However, it’s 2023 — and we’re not really starting to see the benefits pro-Brexit politicians claimed to reap.
If anything, we have seen that isolationist policy in today’s globalized world leads to overcomplicated trade and less economic opportunity because fewer people traverse to the land.
Let’s be honest, I was not the only student who chose not to go to the UK after seeing the sentiment of Brexit proponents. My case is circumstantial evidence, of course, but it suggests a larger attitude EU citizens have toward the UK as of leaving the bloc.
