Brexit.

Source: The New York Times

On this day, 4 years ago, people from all sorts of backgrounds living in the United Kingdom (UK) went out to vote on a historic referendum that would decide the fate of the country. After over 40 years of being part of the European Union (EU), the referendum demonstrated a majority of 51.9% against 48.11% in favour of leaving the EU. Now, you might be wondering, how is this relevant to history? It's only been a few years. However, the Cambridge Dictionary defines "history" as being "the study of or a record of past events considered together, especially events of a particular period, country, or subject." Even though it's only been a few years, it is still something that happened in the past, and will be a historic moment to be remembered in years to come. No doubt in a few decades, History students will be pondering the status of the UK within the EU as potential essay questions. I'm not going to go into a political analysis of this issue; as much as I'd love to, that's not the point of this blog. Instead I'll just look at the history of the UK's relationship with the EU over the years.

When the original EU was formed, at the time known as the European Economic Community (EEC), the aim was to promote economic and international unity with the hopes of preventing war by forming alliances with member states. Other communities, such as the European Defence Community, were formed as part of this. In the early 1960s, the UK, along with several others, attempted to join, but French President Charles de Gaulle believed the UK's membership would bring in American influence; these countries were rejected. A little more than 10 years later, pro-Europe Prime Minister Edward Heath reopened negotiations to join, and treaties were signed to allow membership, effective on the 1st of January 1973. In the years leading up to this, the UK's position as a global superpower was declining. The end of the Second World War prompted many British territories under the Empire to revolt and fight for independence. By the time the UK became a member of the EU, they had already lost dozens of territory. On top of this, the British economy was worsening. I believe that the EU was initially reluctant to take the UK as a member partly because the British Empire was still fairly strong, and there were fears that the UK might attempt to rule the EU. By 1973, such a thought was considered laughable.

The immediate aftermath of joining was met with optimism. A referendum was held just two years after joining to gauge the public's reaction to joining the EU, which showed a majority in support of maintaining EU membership. One might suggest that the Labour Party was the main driver in the UK for British position in the EU, as they have been recently, though I learnt less than a year ago that they were originally against it and wanted to withdraw from the EU; the re-election of Margaret Thatcher in 1983 prompted them to change their policy. Her resignation in 1990 sparked Euroscepticism, coincidentally not long before the EU gained its new name in 1993, changing from "European Communities" to the "European Union." Some in the UK began to feel concerned that the shift from an economic organisation of European countries into a political one meant that UK might be subjected to a higher power. In the same year, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) was formed and started to gain some influence in British politics. For 23 years, Euroscepticism would begin to take root within both the government and the public, while at the same time, an opposition of Europhilia would arise to not only maintain but increase the EU's influence in Britain. Tony Blair's leadership in the late 90s up until 2007 would campaign for further integration of Britain into the EU, aiming to adopt the common Euro currency.

The return of the Conservatives to power in 2010 prompted questions of whether there was a possibility of leaving the EU, even though the Prime Minister, David Cameron, was in favour of remaining in the EU. It took several years before the question became a reality, though it seemed as though public opinion leaned towards remaining an EU member. In the lead-up to the general election of 2015, it was promised by the Conservative Party that a referendum would be hold regarding the UK's membership within the EU if they were elected. True enough, plans were made not long after their re-election to begin the process of organising a referendum. I remember this especially well because I had just moved to the UK around this time, and the subject of the referendum was a common conversation starter. At the time, I didn't have much of an opinion about it since I didn't know a whole lot about why the UK would want to leave the EU; now, of course, I do have an opinion about it. One university friend - who I went to school with as well - jokingly pointed out that leaving the EU would mean that we wouldn't have free internet roaming if we went to other EU states. I had the opportunity to vote in the referendum, being a Commonwealth citizen living in the UK, but I was not in the country at the time and didn't know postal voting was even an option. It was a plus I didn't know - to this day, I still don't know what I would have voted.

4 years have passed, and finally the results of the referendum are being implemented. From what I've seen, the effects of COVID-19 have not slowed down the process, and there is still every intention by the Conservative Party to see a full exit completed by the end of 2020. All that's left is to see how things turn out.