Brexit and You

BBC Young Reporters AJ, Corben and Eleanor ask a big question – what is Brexit and how will it affect you?

The definition of Brexit is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

On the 23rd of June 2016 the UK voted whether to leave the European Union. David Cameron (former PM) decided to hold a national vote. After the results 52% to 48% – 17.4m votes to 16.1m- pro leaving, devastated David Cameron resigned, handing over power to Theresa May. Currently in parliament, discussions have been mainly over the “divorce” deal, which sets out exactly how the UK leaves – not what will happen afterwards.

This deal is known as the withdrawal agreement. After the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019 there may be a transition period from then until 31 December 2020. During this period, EU legislation will still apply in the UK. During the transition period, nothing will change for tourists travelling to and from the UK. For example, Dutch Customs won’t need to inspect most goods from the UK yet and the rights for Dutch nationals living in the UK will remain the same. It is still unclear what new rules will apply to people and businesses after the transition period, however. The EU and the UK still need to negotiate these.

Brexit effects everyone, even young people and schools. A local school canteen, during an interview stated how Brexit might affect them. They feared that “stocks might be limited” and “prices might go up” as well as “deliveries might not come in on time.”

This is concern because many secondary school students rely on school lunch.

There are some benefits to Brexit such as:

  • The UK would get money back
  • We could make our own laws again
  • We wouldn’t need to accept any decisions forced on us by other members of the EU

However, there are quite a few disadvantages of leaving the EU too like:

  • Loss of freedom of movement
  •  Less opportunities for younger people
  • Social damage
  • Economic loss

So what do you need to know?

Top 5 things you should know about leaving the EU.

  1. Costs will rise- anything produced in countries that are in the EU will cost a lot more to buy also leaving companies in low demand as the products cost more.

2. People born in Northern Ireland will be able to keep their current right to choose Irish or British citizenship, or both.

3. Many people believe that the referendum was very unfair because it was not explained clearly what Brexit meant.

5. If it is a deal, then leaving the EU will prevent trading with foreign countries. This could impact anyone who has a job in the marketing industry, resulting in loss of jobs so therefore loss in tax income.

As a result of 5 interviews with secondary school students, 4/5 students didn’t know much at all about Brexit. This could be due to lack of information about Brexit given to students, something that the Mr Sullivan, the Head of Year 8, says should be a priority. This sentiment is echoed by the Mayor of St. Austell who stated that: “ordinary people who are not politicians should be more involved” to the future of Brexit.