Foreign Affairs Magazine:
Salvaging Brexit
21 October 2016
Article by Swati Dhingra
On June 30, a week after the British public voted to leave the EU, Theresa May gave a speech launching her candidacy for prime minister in which she declared, ''Brexit means Brexit''. Her message was straightforward: even though she herself had supported remaining in the EU, she would not hesitate to implement the will of the voters. Yet months after assuming office, May has yet to answer crucial questions about what a British exit, or Brexit, would mean for trade, immigration, and financial services. It is still not at all obvious what Brexit will actually look like. That's because the referendum has confronted the government with two distinct but related problems: how to leave the EU as painlessly as possible and how to reverse the years of economic neglect that have divided the country. Solving each will require hard choices, and whatever the politicians decide, some of their supporters will feel let down. With this in mind, they should prioritize prosperity over politics and defy radicals on both sides of the debate.
This article was published online in the November/December 2016 Foreign Affairs Magazine on October 21, 2016
Link to article here
Related publications
Life after Brexit : What are the UK's options outside the European Union?, Swati Dhingra and Thomas Sampson, CEP Brexit Analysis Series Paper No.01, February 2016
See the complete series of CEP Brexit Analysis papers here
Related links
Swati Dhingra webpage
Trade Programme webpage
Swati Dhingra CEP publications webpage