Things you need to know about what "Brexit" is and how does it affect us?
Over the past several months we have been frequently hearing the term "Brexit" very often. What is it? What happen after that? What does it mean to us as international students? Let's find out! ?
What is Brexit?
Brexit is a combination of the term "Britain" and exit". It is the name that came up to describe the decision that Great Britain or "GB" leaving the European Union, or "EU", an essential economic integration between the countries in the European region that has an immense influence on the global economic situation.
The '"Brexit" also refers to the national referendum held on the 23rd June, 2016. The historic referendum allowed people in Great Britain to came out and voted on the question whether they would wanted to remain or leave from the European Union bloc.
The result came as a surprise to the people both inside and outside of the country. 52% of the people in the United Kingdom has chosen to "leave" the European Union, while 48% of them voted to stay. The referendum is considered to be one of the most historically essential political decision of the world.
The arguments which support, the "leave" campaign involve around two main reasons. Firstly, they feel that the number of immigrants coming into the country is too much, and therefore they want to be able to control it as a sovereign state. Secondly is about the British sovereignty, the supreme rights and authority of the each state, they feel that Great Britain should have their own rights, decisions of doing things regarding their own country without having to go through the process in which European Union has mutually decided on.
After the declaration of the referendum result, many factors of the country have been impacted by this shockingly known fact.
From the picture, we can see that the majority of people in Scotland and Northern Ireland, voted to remain in the EU. However, for Wales and England, the outcome came out the opposite. A vast amount of Welsh and English people feel that it would be better for them to stay outside of the EU.
What is the European Union?
The European Union - often known as the EU - is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries. It began after World War Two to foster economic co-operation, with the idea that countries which trade together are more likely to avoid going to war with each other.
It has since grown to become a "single market" allowing goods and people to move around, basically as if the member states were one country. It has its own currency, the euro, which is used by 19 of the member countries, its own parliament and it now sets rules in a wide range of areas - including on the environment, transport, consumer rights and even things such as mobile phone charges.
What happened after the Brexit referendum?
A new Prime Minister - Theresa May took over the role form David Cameron, the former prime minster of David Cameron before the referendum took place. Theresa May, the former home secretary who is in the same party as Cameron, took over from David Cameron, who resigned on the day after losing the referendum.
Like Cameron, Mrs May was against Britain leaving the EU but she says she will respect the will of the people.
What are the consequences that arise from Brexit?
The UK economy seems to be the part that has been most affected by the Brexit vote. The value of the pound plunged down to the the lowest point in a 30 years period.
What does this mean for International students?
Us as non-European students don't really have a direct impact from the Brexit vote . However, we are pretty much benefited from the lower value of Pound Sterling, the currency used inside the United Kingdom.
The drastic fall of Pound sterling might came as a bad news in the domestic sphere. However, for international students studying inside the UK, the decrease of Pound is great news for us, as products as services are cheaper. A report staid that international students save up to one-fifth after Brexit.
Fees for Singaporean and American students will be 21 per cent and 17 per cent cheaper respectively, according to the study, which was based on an analysis of tuition fee payments data for the UK’s main overseas markets.
According to https://www.timeshighereducation.com, overseas students enrolling in higher education for the first time this year will benefit from the fallen Pound value, with international tuition fees for the UK’s key markets dropping at least 10 per cent since 23 June, the day of the EU referendum. New Indian students will see the biggest fall in tuition, saving 14 per cent, or £1,570, in the two months since the vote, followed by students from Malaysia (13.7 per cent) and the US and Saudi Arabia (13.4 per cent each).
Source: BBC and https://www.timeshighereducation.com
