On June 23rd 2016, the population of the United Kingdom voted with 52% to leave the European Union.

The British Election Study, has polled voters and concluded that the Leave voters, do regret their vote. If the referendum was taken now, the United Kingdom would still be part of the European Union.

Besides that, studies have shown that the United Kingdom could have a huge decrease in sales turnover in the economy, and that the liabilities of the companies’ income statements will grow, says Philip Hammond. He is a member of parliament of the British Conservative Party.

Different forecasts of months after the Brexit make the country uncertain and will only make things worse, according to Mr. Minford, one of the economists for the Brexit group.

For one thing, the Pound sterling has devaluated, which means that the Pound is not as valuable as other currencies. As a consequence, there is decrease of the purchasing power. Purchasing power is a person’s ability to buy goods.

Secondly, there is a lot of discussion among the other European Union countries, about  the trade relationship with other European Union countries.

Since the United Kingdom has voted for “Leave”, they will be faced with possible trade barriers. Additionally, new trade agreements have been postponed since the Brexit, after two years it will be possible to form new agreements with other European countries. A benefit for the United Kingdom is for instance the strict flow of people coming in the country, for instance immigrants.

One of the most important topics is to focus on the Article 50: this is a rule of the Lisbon Treaty for the EU countries; it illustrates the complicated procedure to follow when an EU country withdraws. The actual withdrawal can take up many years as all Member States have to agree on a trade deal.

Most likely, domestic and EU students will not be affected for the upcoming academic year, but probably in the future they will be. Non-EU students, who would like to study in the United Kingdom will probably be asked to apply for a visa. They also will have to deal with increased restrictions such as higher tuition fees, but if the Pound continues to devaluate, it could become more economical to study in the United Kingdom for Non-EU students.

Recently the British-Dutch chain and supplier of goods Unilever and Tesco Supermarket were a ‘trending topic’ on social media named “Marmite gate”: This unique spread is made of yeast extract and the flavour is quite unusual and salty. Marmite was barely available in Tesco Supermarkets.  Due to a depreciation of the Sterling, Unilever put pressure on Tesco saying that the goods from Unilever should be increased by 10 %, however, Tesco disagreed on this saying that no one will buy the goods and some goods are made in the United Kingdom. The conflict is solved, however many investors and businesses face a real challenge doing business in the United Kingdom.

A survey conducted by Hargreaves Landsdown has showed that especially the Millenials will get affected 70%  of them have a more negative perspective for the next 12 months regarding the Brexit vote to Leave, 56% of generation X and 43% of the babyboomers.

The reason why Millenials aren’t so sure about it is because they might think that especially after the Brexit the stock markets went down and it could affect the whole economy. Only 20% of Millenials have invested in the stock markets. There are barriers to entry. With the United Kingdom now leaving the EU, it could be that the Euro is in a dangerous position as well. We do not know whether the Euro will collapse or not. Another reason why Millenials think they will be affected is, is namely because of internships abroad, which does not guarantee for a long term residence in the United Kingdom. Moreover UK citizens do have to apply already for a visa if this is the case. Even if the United Kingdom will agree on a trade agreement with other European countries, it will still be hard for young European talents to maintain a job in the United Kingdom.

Professor Mr. Issing, The European Central Banks’ First Chief economist, added that the Economical Central Bank had failed by helping Greece out of their financial debts, which has caused many problems now. He also predicted that it will not take long for the Euro to collapse.

In fact, the Scottish first minister Ms. Sturgeon, said that she would want a second referendum on independence if the United Kingdom could be within the single market, and if not, then Scotland. If both aren’t possible there is likely to be a referendum for independence, she added. After the United Kingdom has left the EU, it has many consequences for Scotland, for instance border controls and immigration regulations.

On the other hand, opponents to Ms. Sturgeon are saying that she should focus more on the current issues in the country, such as education or the National Health Service.

Now that the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union, there are a lot of changes within in the country and also for the surrounding countries. There is uncertainty of what is going to happen, what is going to frighten us, surprise us or what wouldn’t affect us so much. What we know for sure, is that the United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union for the first time in their history.

This article was written by Selina Nikijuluw.