SD A4 format (printable) - page 11

loss.
On the 29th of March 2019, Britain will officially leave the EU. If
you expect everything to completely change after that day, then
you are wrong. The transition deal that has been proposed by
the Prime Minister, Theresa May, will mean the UK would stay
in the single market for the time being, 21 months to be exact.
This means that the rights of businesses and citizens would
remain the same, between Brexit day and the end of 2020. The
free flow of goods, capital, services and people would continue
under EU law, as the transition deal has been put forward, but
yet to be finalised, it provides some clarity for the post Brexit
UK. Rachel Kent, who is the head of financial services at law
firm Hogan Lovells said financial services firms will still be go-
ing through with a contingency plans, despite the transition deal
looking like it will happen.
The Bank of England believes that the UK won’t grow any faster
than 1.5% a year. The concept of Brexit leaves foreign investors
with confusion as they don’t know whether manufacturers will
be able to import parts across the EU without big delays at bor-
ders, or even if companies can hire EU workers that they need
and will there be new regulatory barriers put in place. These
questions and more are causing reluctance in companies to in-
vest in the UK.
If a deal is not reached for the plans after the transition period,
it would cause a ‘No Deal Brexit’. A no deal Brexit means the UK
and EU would be unable to reach a withdrawal agreement. This
would come with a number of consequences; it would affect
trade as The UK would revert to the World Trade Organisation
rules on trade meaning the UK would have to go through the
EU’s external tariffs. In short this means that the price of goods
in shops in Britain would increase as businesses would have to
place their own tariffs on goods they import from the EU to
maximise their profits. Manufacturers may even move their
operations to the EU to avoid delays across the border. Further
deducting from the UK’s GDP.
The UK would now be able to set its own controls on immigra-
tion on EU nationals, and vice versa. This could mean long de-
lays at borders if passport and customs checks are increased.
With 1.3 million Britons working in the EU and 3.7 million Euro-
peans in Britain, it leaves their working and living rights in un-
certainty. Britain would also no longer have to pay the annual
£13bn contribution to the EU budget, but the UK would lose out
on some EU subsidies, for example the common agricultural
policy which gives £3bn to farmers.
Another no deal issue is the Irish Border Problem, as Northern
Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and The Republic of Ire-
land isn’t, the 310 mile long border will also become the border
between the EU and the UK. There are hundreds of border
crossings that many people have to go through to get to work,
as do large amounts of goods and services. A hard border is the
option no one wants, but it may be the one we get. This means
security and customs checkpoints would be put in place. North-
ern Irish police even warned that these checkpoints could be-
come a hotspot for rebellious Republicans.
What can be concluded is that Brexit is leaving the economy in a
worse place than before, but the economy can be salvaged if a
deal is reached before the transition period runs out, if no deal is
reached this would be a terrible outcome and it would cause the
UK to crash out of the EU rather than gracefully depart.
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