The majority isn’t always right
A year ago, the Tory party (also called the conservative party) won the majority once again and got reelected to hold the charge of Britain. In the election manifesto, it was decided that a referendum would be held on whether or not, to remain in the European Union (EU). Pressure from the Labor party dramatically increased and Parliament passed an act declaring 23rd June 2016 was decided for the vote. Polls showed that 72% of people elected to remain, which is considered to be the highest margin since 1972. Contrary to predictions and the fears of the continent were realised and the nation decided to leave EU and the echo of Brexit (51.9 percent in the favor) has been heard in the corners of the world. Now after the referendum, in the next two years according to article 50 of the European Treaty, Britain will have to prove on what terms, policies and conditions, when and how to dissociate itself from EU.
The very immediate effect came out in the form of resignation of the prime minister of Britain from the highest position in the parliament. The economy of Britain, proving to be in extreme financial turmoil, tumbled due to the decrease in Pound’s value – the lowest in the last 30 years – and the aftereffects on property prices (the global hub status), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the overall economy. The ray of scare mothering will also prove right, of which Labor party did not deny, that the GDP of UK will decrease by approximately 36 billion pounds annually, due to which every British national will have to bear the brunt of an additional 4 thousand pounds each per year. Brexit will have a domino effect on the other European countries and opposition parties of Netherlands, France and Denmark who will also come into ring to fight to leave, as they believe that EU is playing the role of being technocrat and anti-democrat, denying them sovereign independence. All decisions related to EU are made in Brussels. This will eventually affect Eurozone.
Explicitly, Britain’s labor party and “leave campaign” voters have won and are considering it a new independence for Britain, yet it is going to be a difficult situation for them to remain united internally – ideologically as well as physically. Almost the whole Scotland voted to remain in EU, the first Scottish minister, right after the results, has demanded another referendum in Scotland to remain or exit Britain. Side by side, Ireland was already divided into two parts; one part of Ireland, independent and not part of UK, is still a part of EU and Northern Ireland, part of Britain, which has just exited EU.
The leaders of the “leave campaign” were of the view that by remaining, they cannot make their own policies due to not being given the right of much independence, cannot manage their borders, cannot engage in international free trade with the rest of the world, their economy is being affected because UK has to give $13 billion to the budget of EU annually and that they are under obligation due to EU policies to provide asylum and immigration to the refugees coming from places like Turkey, India, Syria, Iraq and Northern Africa. There has been a massive influx of European immigrants due to open borders policy. The increasing number of immigrants and refugees in UK is also a large burden on the British welfare organizations.
On the other hand, open market will be badly affected because there was no tariff involved, around 0.3m British jobholders in Europe will have to be given a way out, British people might not be able to live freely in Europe, and Britain will be considered less secure now. Similarly, people coming from Europe for jobs and living will also get impaired. The aftereffects of this isolationist policy will ultimately give rise to further discrimination, particularly Islamophobia, and this may create difficulties for visas and immigrations for Pakistani people too.
The EU is the largest trading partner of Pakistan, and although it only accounts for 7% of exports of the country’s total GDP, exporters are going to be negatively affected due to currency depreciation of the Euro and Pound. This economic plunge will badly affect Pakistan’s automotive industry, textile sector and gold prices, directly or indirectly. There will also be a question mark on Pakistani property owners and jobholders in UK. On the other hand, imports can be cheaper but with no surety depending on how UK’s new policies will be formulated.
Every country with immigration has space of xenophobia – fear (an extremely motivating emotion) of outsiders and loss of identity. Psychologically viewing the whole incident after seeing UK asking for a second referendum, the Brexit vote proves that in a voting booth race of emotion versus logic, emotions win. As the news of leaving EU was approaching, the anxiety of 48.1 percent who voted to remain, because of being concerned about their future, started rising that may convert into anxiety disorders.
When Britain joined EU in 1973, it was considered to be the new world order and who knows 2016 may give way to “reborn world order of European states” and whether or not the Brexit decision is right for them as well as for the rest of the world, time will tell.
