Viewing the City of London's official 1:500th scale architectural model of central London at the City Centre gallery, May 2016. Dominic Lipinski / Press Association. All rights reserved. This article tackles three issues: the impact of Brexit on Britain as a whole, both politically and economically; the impact of Brexit on the European project; and the impact of Brexit on British SMEs. This allows us to have a measured approach to British voters opting to leave the single market on the 23 June referendum.
The impact of Brexit on Britain and globalization: the role of the City of London
The European Union accounts for almost half of Britain's exports and imports. This corresponds to 15% of the country's GDP. EU membership is beneficial to the UK economy, because the EU is a customs union and this lowers trade barriers. This makes goods and services cheaper to British consumers.
The downside of this is that Britain cannot negotiate, on its own, separate trade agreements with non-EU members. Brexit would allow this to happen, because Britain will recover full economic sovereignty. Brexit may also open the way for protectionist, import-substitution policies and a re-launch of the welfare state.
