Two years on, Britishers still divided

LONDON: On the second anniversary of the 2016 Brexit referendum, Britain’s people and its politics remain deeply divided, with experts insisting no one has a clue how it will play out.

Thousands of anti-Brexit campaigners under the People’s Vote platform marched to Parliament on Saturday, demanding that the people get the final say on the terms that the Theresa May government would reach with Brussels before the scheduled divorce from the EU on March 29, 2019.

Strident voices in the proBrexit camp insist that there is nothing to lose or fear from exiting the EU, while the rival camp claims that the economic loss that would ensue and the UK’s dwindling influence does not make it worth leaving the bloc.

Anand Menon, professor of European politics at King’s College London, provided a reality check in The Independent, stating that untangling 40 years of relationship with the EU was never going to be easy — the option basically is between a Brexit that is economically ruinous and one that equates to membership without the perks.

“This is where the debate now is. Find a clever way of selling the status quo, or adopt a model that impacts severely on trade and hence our economy, and deal with the political consequences,” he wrote.

Leaders within the May government continue to add to the conundrum. Foreign secretary and prominent Brexiteer Boris Johnson is reported to have responded with an expletive when EU diplomats raised concerns with him over Brexit’s impact on business.

Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, told BBC: “I think the public in general...do see there is a mess. We’ve only got a year to go. And I think for the big companies that employ hundreds of thousands of workers in the UK... they want some clarity about what the trading relationships will be and there is absolutely none whatever.”