The Truth about Brexit

                                                         

Hello friends 

The Brexit happened on 31st January. 2020

That is, the United Kingdom separated itself from the European Union

This is a very important lesson in geopolitics because it compels you to think

what is nationalism, what is a nation and what is a country?

Come, let us see in this video what Brexit is, why did it happen and how it affects these countries

and the rest of the world

United Kingdom Explain

 

                                                                             
            

Come, let us understand

First of all, the story of United Kingdom itself is very interesting

It is a country formed by the amalgamation of four other countries

Look at the map- England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

These four countries together constitute the United Kingdom

which is itself a country

You would ask how this is possible? They are four separate countries

and yet constitute one country together

But this is possible

In some respects, the United Kingdom is a sole country

and in some respects, they are four separate countries

For example, in cricket you might have noticed that

England has a separate team and Scotland has a separate one

But in Olympics, the entire United Kingdom has a single team

Looking at the government, the entire United Kingdom has the same Parliament as well as the same currency

but all these four countries have their own separate flags

Infact, the website of the Prime Minister of UK reads that

The UK is countries within a country

On the side of United Kingdom lies Ireland

Ireland is a completely independent country. It is not a part of UK

But prior to 1922, it used to be a part of UK

When we talk about Great Britain, then it includes England, Wales and Scotland

and so when you look at the Wikipedia page, then it reads that UK is referred to as

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

But prior to 1922, it was referred to as

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

So Northern Ireland and Ireland are separate today

Another interesting thing is that before the Brexit referendum in 2014

a referendum was conducted in Scotland in which the people were asked

whether they wanted Scotland to remain a part of the United Kingdom

or whether they wanted it to be an independent country just like Ireland

Then 55% of the people voted for Scotland to remain a part of the United Kingdom

Keep this in mind because it is relevant ahead

and is quite related to the Brexit referendum

 European Union

Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and 28 different European countries

together formed a union which is called the European Union

But looking at some aspects, the European Union is a country in itself

just like the United Kingdom

for example, there are no borders between these countries

There are no border checks while going from Uttar Pradesh to Bihar and you can pass through easily

Similarly, you can go from Germany to France

from France to Spain and from Spain to Portugal

There are no borders in between these countries

Only one currency is used in all these countries and that is Euro

The entire European Union has a separate Parliament

Although all these countries do have their own national Parliaments, the European Union also has one

And the people living in all these countries can vote and choose the members of the European Parliament

The European Union also has the authority to set rules and regulations

which will have to be followed by all the countries that come within the European Union

Some people are of the opinion that the European Union has an excess of powers

Their country has to follow whatever it dictates and some people do not like it

and hence they are against the European Union

Now you'd think why has this been done?

What was the point of the formation of the European Union?

Why can't these countries stay separate countries

like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh are all separate countries and there is no union amongst them

Why can't the countries stay this way?

There is a a very important reason behind this

When the European Union was formed, its main purpose was promotion of peace amongst these countries

It was formed after World War 2

And as you know all the European countries were fighting amongst each other in World War 1 and 2

In fact, the enmity between France and Germany equalled that between India and Pakistan today

But after the culmination of World War 2 and the demise of Hitler, they decided that they had had enough of fights

and now they need to promote peace

and this peace could only be maintained if they worked together as a union

In the 1950s and 1960s, they opened their trading (boundaries)

and formed a union for trading

Gradually, more countries started joining in and the Union became stronger

then in 1999, they decided upon having their own currency

and doing so much together, not only promotes peace, but also

causes them to stand as a power on the world map

The European Union becomes a super power

which the countries cannot become on their own

Economically, too, it is a huge advantage. Because think about it: Germany is good in some things

while Spain is good in some other things

Italy's farms yield good quality olive oil

The mountains of Austria yield good quality milk products

If there are no trade barriers among the countries, products and services would be exchanged easily

So the disadvantage of one country can be compensated for by the advantage of another country

The workers, too, can move from one country to another easily

And if one wants to start a new business, then he'd get the access to the markets of all the European countries

If you start a company at one place , then you can easily...

the rules and regulations in the rest of the European countries are the same

So there is a huge advantage in every aspect

But the strength of the Union is its weakness too

If you make the rules and regulations for so many countries together,

then it becomes extremely difficult to keep every one happy

Disagreements arise

So, to a large extent, the European Union gives choices to each country

It does not impose its opinion on them always

For example, regarding the adoption of Euro as a currency,

Every state has a choice- if you want to use Euro as a currency in your country, they may.

If not, they may use their own currency

Therefore in countries like Denmark, Poland and Hungary , Euro is still not used

There is also a choice of opting to stay within or outside the Schengen Area

But in some areas, the European Union made certain laws that irked some people

For example, the refugee crisis of 2015

 Why Brexit Happened

The European Union stated that every country has to take a fixed number of refugees within their country

in proportion of their population

This upset a lot of people

Thereafter, feelings of not staying a part the European Union began to take root in some people

so that they would be empowered to take the decisions for their country on their own

We do not want refugees or immigrants within our country

This was especially seen in Britain where the right wing party- The Conservative Party

took advantage of this and told the people that they want to break out of the European Union

and pressure was mounted

There were two factions even within the Conservative Party. One wanted to break away from the European Union

And the other did not want to break out of the Union, but

the faction that wanted a Brexit- that is, to opt out of the European Union

mounted pressure and got a referendum conducted regarding this

The Brexit referendum In UK took place in 2016

in which 52% of the people voted to leave the European Union

A grand propaganda programme was run during this referendum

Fake news were spread on a massive scale, the people were terrified and lies were uttered

which compelled the people to vote in favour of Brexit

I have specifically covered this propaganda campaign in this video

You can watch it by clicking on the "i" button if you want to understand it in detail

but the fact was that Brexit was voted for

A study of 2017 has stated that the people that voted in favour of Brexit

most of them belonged to lower income groups, were victims of unemployment,

lived in the rural regions and were aged people

They were fearful that the immigrants would come and take over their jobs

No jobs would be available for them

Thereafter, instability reigned in UK for four years

Governments rose to power and governments fell

People were discussing how to actually carry out the Brexit

and what treaty should they be having with the European Union after that

On 31st January, 2020, Brexit finally happened

but the exact trade agreements with the European Union have not yet been negotiated

The effects of Brexit will be seen on a large scale in the coming years

Effects of Brexit

but some things can be predicted now itself

For example, upon separation from the European Union, tariffs will now be imposed

on imports and exports between the United Kingdom and the European Union

Trade will become difficult

And this is a very bad news for the people living in the United Kingdom because

1/3rd of the imports of UK came from European Union

Now tariffs would be imposed on them and they would become costlier

So all the goods that are imported by UK will become costlier for the people living in UK

In general, the companies of UK would have to bear a huge loss

because they cannot participate in bidding for the public contracts in the rest of the EU countries

Neither can they access the rest of the EU markets

nor can they employ workers from the rest of EU in their companies

Owing to these losses, a lot of companies of UK fled the country

and shifted to the European Union or Ireland

because Ireland is still a part of the European Union

Even from the perspective of jobs, there is a huge loss for the citizens of UK

because when it was a part of EU, then any citizen of UK could look for or take up a job in any country in Europe

Because there were no borders and free movement of the people was allowed

But now, after Brexit,

earlier they had multiple opportunities to look for jobs

now, they would remain limited within one country

Due to these reasons, an immediate impact was seen on the economy of UK when the vote for Brexit happened

A study of 2018 reveals that there was a loss of 2.5% of the GDP on UK's economy

Investments dropped by 6%, unemployment rose by 1.5%

and the per capita income reduced by 1%

Let us come back to the case of Scotland.

It is an extremely interesting case because if you look at the map carefully

Scotland Case

what are the regions in which the people voted to leave during the Brexit referendum

and what are the regions in which the people ruled that they want to remain a part of the EU

You will notice that an overwhelming majority of the people in the region of Scotland stated that

they want to remain with the EU

But since Scotland is one of the four countries in the United Kingdom,

the overall vote percentage titled in favour of Brexit

but the people living in Scotland were still in favour of EU

And what is happening now is that the people of Scotland are upset

They want another referendum to be conducted

to break away from the United Kingdom and join EU

Obviously, the United Kingdom did not like this because

there would be an even greater economic effect if Scoltand leaves the United KIngdom

Now think about it: What the people of Scotland are trying to do

Are they anti- national because they want to separate from the UK?

Are they a part of the UK's "Tukde tukde gang" because they want to break up UK?

Or are they nationalists because they are thinking about their own country- Scotland and the Scottish people?

Or are they internationalists because Scotland becomes a part of the EU?

Tell us

Write down your opinions in the comments below. Is doing this the right thing for them?

from the perspective of nationalism, internationalism and regionalism?

In my opinion, one thing is very clear from this situation and that is

that we not not attach a lot of importance to these words

What is nationalism? What is anti nationalism?

It holds no importance

It is accorded too much importance in our country by some people

In reality, a country, a nation is an imaginary thing

A group of people believe that a nation or a country exists at a place

then the nation exists there

If they do not believe so, then the nation will not exist there

So basically, where a nation exists and where it doesn't depends on the imagination of the people

We will meet again in the next Blog

Thank you