The Real Brexit Begins Now

In June 2016, The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. In September, the country's new leaders finally made a plan. The UK will leave the EU by summer 2019.

The UK will be the first country ever to leave the EU. The government did not make this decision. The people in the United Kingdom voted to leave. Fifty-two percent of voters voted to leave the EU. Not everyone in the UK agreed. The United Kingdom is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay in the EU. Some people say that Scotland may now vote to leave the UK. Then they could join the EU as an independent country.

Before the vote, a part of society called the Leave side convinced many Britians that the EU was bad. They said that the EU had too many rules and cost too much. They also said that, after The UK left the EU, they could stop letting so many foreigners move to Great Britain. Many Britians were very angry that people come to live and work in the UK from Europe and from around the world. The Leave side said Britain would be stronger, richer, and safer without the EU.

The Leave side however did not tell the truth about everything. But on June 23rd 2016, Britain voted to leave the EU.

After the vote, many things happened. Most of them were not good. For example, the UK's currency the pound immediately lost a lot of its value. This means that Britians must pay more money for everything. Great Britain also lost its very good credit rating. This means that the government will have to pay more fees to borrow money.

Another issue is free travel. EU countries let citizens from any EU country travel freely. They don't have to show passports. They can work, live and travel to any EU country. Now what will happen to British citizens? No one knows right now.

The British exit from the EU, or the Brexit, will be very difficult and will take many years. The economy takes a long time to change so we won't know many of the problems caused by Brexit for a long time. Even more than three months after the vote, the pound still has very low value, the lowest in 30 years.

And the EU and the UK will have to make a new relationship.

We need much more time to know exactly what Brexit really means for Britain, the EU, and the world.