Brexit

In 2016, the British people voted to leave the European Union, of which they had been members since its founding, with a majority of 52%. In the immediate aftermath of the referendum, David Cameron, the Conservative Prime Minister who had called it and campaigned fervently to remain, resigned. In the jostling that followed, Theresa May, another conservative remainer, emerged as Prime Minister. What followed were three years of domestic polarization and intense negotiations that, still, have failed to deliver a consensus. Shortly after the referendum, Theresa May called a general election which resulted only in a hung parliament. Though initially slated to leave the Union on March 29, 2019, the latest of two extensions of article 50, the part of the Treaty of Lisbon which lays out the procedure for a withdrawal from the block, has seen this date extended to October 31. The whole process has bred internal turmoil, dividing both major political parties. Scottish displeasure over the looming withdrawal has emboldened the drive for an independent Scotland. The greatest stumbling blocks in the negotiations have been the status of British trade with the EU (their #1 trading partner) and the Irish border, the nearly invisible boundary between the UK and EU which would threaten Irish stability if disrupted. Theresa May had negotiated a withdrawal agreement with the EU, but it was rejected three times in Parliament by embarrassing margins, and it is unlikely that Common’s Speaker John Bercow will allow any further votes. Amid the chaos, the country is divided between crashing out of the EU without a deal, holding a second referendum, or cancelling Brexit altogether.