Brexit and Beyond: How Has the UK’s Departure from the EU Reshaped British Policy Priorities and Decision-Making Processes?

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Brexit, Britain’s departure from the European union, caused a divide between the nation. The referendum itself changed the trajectory of governance and policy making in Britian. The decision to leave the EU has not only changed the relationship between the Britain and Europe but has fundamentally changed domestic decision and policy making in Britian. This Blog post aims to outline and explain the impact Brexit has had on British politics and policy making. 

Background

In 2016, a referendum on whether Britain should exit in the EU, coined the name ‘Brexit’ was voted on by the British public. 33.5 million people voted in the election, this topic stirred controversy but also invoked a passion in the British people, evident in a 72.2% voter turnout, the highest seen since the 1992 general election, when finalised the votes were 51.9% in favour, 49.1% against (Clarke, Goodwin and Whiteley, 2017, pp.1–7). This landmark referendum marked a turning point in British politics as a series of negotiations and debates ensued. The main proponents of the Brexit campaign was based on the assertion that a departure from the EU would leave Britian in a position to take charge of immigration laws and boost the country economically, however the consequences of Brexit has left a stain on British politics, causing policy priorities to be driven towards trade negotiations and an effective exit strategy as well as changes being made to the decision making process. 

Shift in Policy Priorities

A priority shift has been seen across multiple areas of policy, one of which being trade. Britain has been forced to negotiate new policy quickly as fears of Brexit causing harm to the country economically began to arise (Steinberg, 2019). Reflecting the need to navigate the landscape around a new trade policy Britian been forced to negotiate new trade arrangements with. various countries as well as and most importantly, the EU. Free trade agreements within the EU make it one of if not the biggest trading powers in the world and with Britian leaving the single market, massive problems will be faced, to combat this trade policy was put to the top of the priority list, (Zimmermann, 2019) , a trade deal was enforced in where the UK adhered to a transitional period until December 2020, then a new deal had to be forged, deals were negotiated in January 2021 , known as the Trade and Cooperation agreement (TCA)  this aims to govern trade between Britian and the EU, the TCA allows for tariff free trade in goods between the UK and the EU, provided that the goods meet a certain criteria of ‘rule of origin’ however stricter border policies will occur in its early stages of implementation  (Wachowiak and Zuleeg, 2022). Whilst these policies are finally being implemented, the concern lies with the length of time these sets of policies take to negotiate and implement, Brexit negotiations always being at the forefront of policy making has taken away from domestic issue, with the government becoming ‘so overloaded it unable to act effectively’ (Diamond and Richardson, 2023). 

Changes to the decision making process

Brexit has made a profound impact on Britian’s government, creating in party divisions between those who wished to remain and those who wished to leave. It has also caused a stir with devolved governments such as Scotland and Northern Ireland, whose majority of citizens voted to stay in the EU, this has led to tension between governments surrounding the distribution of authority, with the central government introducing a ‘carte blanche’ system i where they can freely intervene in decision making that was formally of devolved capacity (Morgan and Wyn Jones, 2023). 

Internally, the conservative party has seen to struggle in the decision and policy making process since Brexit, an infamous  example of this is Thresa May being defeated three times in one day, curiosity of a back bench rebellion, the defeats were on three proposed a Brexit deals, causing her to resign after surviving two votes of no confidence just one month before (Stewart, Elgot and Syal, 2018) (Bale, 2023). This clear divide within the leading party in a country places a severe strain on the Westminster model, weaking the position of government making the decision-making process even more challenging than if it were a united party. 

Conclusion

To conclude, the British political system has faced many changes and challenges since The Brexit referendum, however, there has been a significant shift in the government’s policy priority as well as the decision-making process as explained in as above, these changes leave the question is the British government still functioning effectively? 

Bibliography

Bale, T. (2023). The Conservative Party After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation. [online] Google Books. John Wiley & Sons. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=IqqzEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT4&dq=conservative+party+since+brexit+&ots=0zpK2qSlgy&sig=zsNsIAfj11c64poeZadTtEE0Zps&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=conservative%20party%20since%20brexit&f=false [Accessed 26 Feb. 2024].

Clarke, H.D., Goodwin, M.J. and Whiteley, P. (2017). Brexit. [online] Google Books, Cambridge University Press, pp.1–7. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=aNcoDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=brexit+&ots=j8d7SqbNYf&sig=5E9mcrbUbRewdC0jUqnOw_OZKIU&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=brexit&f=false [Accessed 19 Feb. 2024].

Diamond, P. and Richardson, J. (2023). The Brexit quandary – when policy solutions become the problem. [online] British Politics and Policy at LSE. Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-brexit-quandary-when-policy-solutions-become-the-problem/ [Accessed 26 Feb. 2024].

Morgan, K. and Wyn Jones, R. (2023). Brexit and the Death of Devolution. The Politcal Quarterly, 94(4). doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13293.

Steinberg, J.B. (2019). Brexit and the macroeconomic impact of trade policy uncertainty. Journal of International Economics, [online] 117(1), pp.175–195. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2019.01.009.

Stewart, H., Elgot, J. and Syal, R. (2018). Theresa May staggers on after three Brexit defeats in single day. The Guardian. [online] 5 Dec. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/dec/04/theresa-may-staggers-on-after-three-brexit-defeats-in-single-day [Accessed 26 Feb. 2024].

Wachowiak, J. and Zuleeg, F. (2022). Brexit and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Implications for Internal and External EU Differentiation. The International Spectator, 57(1), pp.142–159. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/03932729.2022.2030604.

Zimmermann, H. (2019). Brexit and the External Trade Policy of the EU. European Review of International Studies, [online] 6(1), pp.27–46. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/26781230.pdf?casa_token=cKRXwRsN-loAAAAA:Vsu4cTplj60ZTtibZYE7giZd4XnVBBpLzWoZ9grEnx2ND2SkYMB0jBmZxY_BEba3HvrqCYuvefQpMniivt0dX44Fb8VUZpmGkRC41wzweCUCk7dwrw [Accessed 25 Feb. 2024].

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