Returning Label volunteer Chris Leroux discusses the continuation of Brexit.
Is there anything you want to hear of less than the sound of more delay to Brexit?
The seemingly endless fracas of political point-scoring might well be over in several months, if all goes to plan, but knowing the ERG (European Research Group), any deal that isn’t a very hard Brexit will be stopped.
If that happens, we may well leave the EU without a deal and this could be disastrous for the economy in the short-term, though nothing can be said of the long term as if Economists can’t predict it, I’m not going to try. If we leave with the wrong deal that could be disastrous not only for the economy, but also for our standing in the world.
How will Brexit, this seemingly transcendent and eternal being, effect students?
It’s hard to say, with the future of this country in doubt, it could be said that companies are less likely to invest in our futures, as investing in a British graduate is like dunking a biscuit for too long in your hot drink of choice, a risky move.
That being said, leaving the EU may benefit us as students, rather than being pushed to do jobs within the EU the world will be open to us and every country will be on the same footing for promoting jobs.
So if you’re looking for a job there might be some hope for us, and not just as Civil Servants trying to sort it out for the rest of eternity (that’s my plan, job and retirement plan sorted). But what about housing?
Unfortunately, if you voted leave with the belief that we were going to kick out all of the immigrants from the EU on March 29th 2019, you voted uninformed, they’re here to stay. So if you were looking to solve the housing shortage based on immigrants leaving, then that’s not going to happen. With Brexit on the minds of everyone, including building contractors, the housing shortage is only going to get worse, with companies less likely to invest in housing contracts as it’s not economically viable with the uncertainty of the Pound.
One could argue that with the uncertainty that Brexit has provided, we are less likely to have more and more immigrants coming to this country, so that means less competition for houses, and jobs. However, I would be wary of going down this route, for the very reason you are now thinking in your head as you’re reading this.
At the moment, the UK imports about 30% of its food from the EU and another 10% from the rest of the world. If there’s no deal, then things will have to be done to prevent a loss of that import.
The UK works on a “just in time” import/export policy. This means that the food you get in the supermarkets that say “from EU” chances are it left the factory in the wider EU less than 24 hours before. With a customs check at the UK border looking likely, this will effect our diets (and mine is already poor).
Leaving the EU will inevitably lead to an increase, at least for the short-term, of food prices due to this delay, new import taxes and the changes of value to the pound.
So there we have it, from our jobs, to the very food we eat, Brexit will affect us.
On a side note, I tried to make this article as balanced as I possibly can, yet the more and more I look into Brexit and the possibility of leaving with a no-deal, the more and more I panic, because if the government and our politicians don’t get it sorted, and quickly, we are going to be looking worse than the Fosters Man on Ashby Road.
Featured image by: Omeiza Haruna
