A New PM For Britain: Brexit And Way Ahead

Since 2016, when the Brexit referendum took place, Britain has witnessed quite a few bouts of turbulence in the political scenario. After Theresa May failed to deliver Brexit and lost the support of her own MP’s, she had announced her resignation on July 4 this year. This led to a Tory (Conservative party) leadership contest, in which Boris Johnson defeated outgoing Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt by more than 40,000 votes. Soon after his victory, Mr. Johnson had said that his priorities were to deliver Brexit by 31st October, unite the country and defeat Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. He remarked that he will put together a “Cabinet for modern Britain,” with women and ethnic-minority lawmakers forming a major chunk in it.

As the new British Prime Minister, one of the foremost challenges that Mr. Johnson faces is negotiating a conclusion to the Brexit impasse with the 27 European Union leaders. On one hand, he has promised to lead the U.K. out of the EU — with or without a divorce deal. For this he has expressed confidence in getting the EU to renegotiate for creating better opportunities of Brexit. On the other hand, this is something that the bloc insists it won’t do. If this does not happen, he stated that Britain must leave the EU by the Oct. 31 deadline, “come what may.” The EU, on the other hand, has reiterated in the past that the deal with Theresa May will have to be accepted, failing which Britain must leave the bloc.

Within the Parliament and his party, the new British Prime Minister faces another challenge as most of the Members of Parliament oppose leaving the EU without a deal. Whereas, within the Conservatives, he faces the lack of an overall majority for a no-deal Brexit. Meanwhile, the Pound’s uncertainties have been propagated to a greater extent by fears regarding Mr. Johnson’s stance of ‘do or die’. This would imply a no-deal Brexit by 31 October, with many forecasting an economic catastrophe for Britain if this were to occur. To avoid such a chaos, Mr. Johnson’s move of filling up his cabinet with pro-Brexiteers can prove to be slightly stabilising for his position. India-UK ties under the new Johnson government could see interesting developments. During his first official visit to India as the UK Foreign Secretary in January 2017, Boris Johnson had expressed willingness to conclude a free trade pact with Asia’s third largest economy, which would be positively implemented once Britain exited the EU in March 2019. On another instance in the recent past, while writing to Indian-origin Conservative members to seek their support in the leadership poll, he stated that his commitment to UK-India relations "runs deep" and that it should run deeper than trade, interchange of goods and services. This undoubtedly implies that the new government is quite eager to rebuild India-UK ties. While India wants a deal with easier immigration norms for its people, Brexit promises to keep out foreigners helping to create more opportunities for people within. However, Mr. Johnson has favoured easier visa norms to encourage more Indian students to come to the UK in his recent open letter to party members adding the need to have a fair and balanced immigration system.

The challenges that a politically divided UK is facing at this moment seem to be vast. The way forward should undoubtedly include the voice of the people, who must decide the best interests of the country. In this regard, Mr. Johnson has considerable responsibility as he needs to steer Britain and take it out of the Brexit limbo to establish socio-political stability. A quicker, cleaner and an orderly exit from the EU could help Britain get out of the endless chaos that has been enveloping the country since 2016. In the upcoming months, Britain along with the rest of the world will witness whether Mr. Johnson moderates his stance or sticks to his ‘do or die’ attitude.

Script: Dr. Sanghamitra Sarma, Strategic Analyst on European Affairs