Brexit

The British decision to leave the European Union (EU) in the referendum on 23 June 2016 sent shockwaves around the world, destabilising the country’s long-standing membership of the EU, and unleashing powerful political forces into the body politics of the United Kingdom (UK). Now that several years have passed since the fateful referendum, we have an opportunity to look back on the Brexit ‘process’ and to take stock of the consequences of the UK’s decision. This chapter does so through a threefold focus on the main dilemmas, developments and debates associated with Brexit. By dilemmas, it focuses on the immediate tasks and issues raised by the Brexit vote, including the practicalities of withdrawal, how to interpret the referendum mandate, what EU-UK relations might look like, and what the political fallout of the vote would be. In terms of developments, the chapter charts the key milestones in the Brexit process from the referendum itself to the rejection of Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement in early 2019, and from formal withdrawal in January 2020 to the coming into force of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) the following year. And finally, it discusses the broader debates that Brexit has engendered, including the origins of the Brexit vote, the negotiating styles of each side, the extent of political change in the UK and the EU, and the implications of Brexit for the wider world.