Brexit - The UK's EU Referendum & Withdrawal
Posted: 25 May 2015, 23:51
Introduction
United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union, often shortened to Brexit (short for British exit) is a political aim of some political parties, advocacy groups, and individuals in the United Kingdom for the country to leave the European Union.
History
The United Kingdom (UK) joined the European Economic Community (EEC), commonly referred to as the Common Market in the UK, on 1 January 1973. This was done under the Conservative government of Edward Heath. The opposition Labour Party, led by Harold Wilson, contested the October 1974 general election with a commitment to renegotiate Britain's terms of membership of the EEC and then hold a referendum on whether to remain in the EEC on the new terms.
1975 Referendum
In 1975 the United Kingdom held a referendum in which the electorate was asked whether the UK should remain in the EEC. All of the major political parties and mainstream press supported continuing membership of the EEC. However, there were significant splits within the ruling Labour party, the membership of which had voted 2:1 in favour of withdrawal at a one-day party conference on 26 April 1975. Since the cabinet was split between strongly pro-Europeans and strongly anti-Europeans, Harold Wilson suspended the constitutional convention of Cabinet collective responsibility and allowed ministers to publicly campaign on both sides. In total, seven of the twenty-three members of the cabinet opposed EEC membership.
On 5 June 1975, the electorate were asked to vote yes or no on the question: "Do you think the UK should stay in the European Community (Common Market)?" Every administrative county in the UK had a majority of "Yes", except the Shetland Islands and the Outer Hebrides. In line with the outcome of the vote, the United Kingdom remained within the EEC.
Yes votes 17,378,581 (67.2%)
No votes: 8,470,073 (32.8%)
Turnout: 64.5%
Further developments
The opposition Labour Party campaigned in the 1983 general election on a commitment to withdraw from the EEC. It was heavily defeated as the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher was re-elected. The Labour Party subsequently changed its policy.
As a result of the 1993 Maastricht Treaty, the EEC became the European Union.
The Referendum Party was formed in 1994 by Sir James Goldsmith to contest the 1997 general election on a platform of providing a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU. It fielded candidates in 547 constituencies at that election and won 810,860 votes. It failed to win a single parliamentary seat as its vote was spread out, losing its deposit (funded by Goldsmith) in 505 constituencies.
The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) was also formed in the early 1990s. It achieved third place in the UK during the 2004 European elections, second place in the 2009 European elections and first place in the 2014 European elections. This last was the first time since 1906 that any party other than the Labour or Conservative parties had taken the largest share of the vote in a UK-wide election.
Referendum Promise
In 2012, British Prime Minister David Cameron rejected calls for a referendum on the UK's EU membership, but suggested the possibility of a future referendum "to ensure the UK's position within an evolving EU has 'the full-hearted support of the British people". In January 2013, Cameron announced that the Conservative Party would hold an in-out referendum on EU membership before the end of 2017, on a renegotiated package, if elected in 2015.
UKIP gained their first elected MP in October 2014, as Douglas Carswell won a by-election after defecting from the Conservatives. Mark Reckless, another defector from the Conservatives, subsequently won another by-election for UKIP in the autumn of 2014. UKIP won only a single seat (held by Carswell) in the 2015 general election, although it finished third in the popular vote.
The Conservative Party, led by David Cameron, won the 2015 general election. Soon afterwards the European Union Referendum Bill 2015–16 was introduced into parliament to enable the referendum. Despite being in favour of remaining in a reformed European Union himself, David Cameron has revoked collective ministerial responsibility and has instead allowed opponents of the EU in the Conservative Party to have a free vote according to their conscience, due to mounting pressure within the party.
The UK's EU Referendum will take place on Thursday 23rd June 2016.
2016 Referendum
In January 2013, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the United Kingdom would hold an in-out referendum on EU membership before the end of 2017 on a renegotiated package if the Conservative Party were re-elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2015. The party formed a majority government after that election and passed the European Union Referendum Act 2015 to enable the referendum. The referendum was held on 23 June 2016, and simply asked voters chose one of the following options: "Remain a member of the European Union", or "Leave the European Union".
The vote resulted in 51.9% in favour of withdrawing, making it the first country to decide to leave the EU. The United Kingdom is now deciding when to activate the withdrawal clause in the EU treaties - Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which gives a strict 2-year deadline from when withdrawal is notified to the EU until the actual withdrawal.
Number of local areas declared: 382/382
Remain: 16,141,241 (48.1%)
Leave: 17,410,742 (51.9%)
Rejected Ballots: 25,359
Total Electorate: 46,500,001
Turnout: 72.2%
Article 50 bill
On 1 February 2017, the House of Commons voted to approve the second reading of the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill 2017 to authorise the Prime Minister to give the Article 50 notice. In the parliamentary debates on the bill before enactment, members of the Commons and of the Lords expressed concerns about the prospective effects on trade and the economy, financial services, and research and innovation policy and the rights of UK citizens in or entering the EU, and EU citizens in or entering the UK.
On 1 March 2017, the House of Lords, in Committee, made an amendment for protecting EU nationals living in the UK, regardless of the rights of UK nationals continuing to live in member states of the EU. The amendment was to add to the bill a requirement that the government will introduce proposals within three months of the withdrawal notification to ensure EU citizens in the UK have the same residence rights after Brexit as before. Published statistics show many more EU nationals live in the UK (the greater numbers coming from Poland and the Republic of Ireland) than UK nationals living in other EU member states (the greater numbers in Spain and the Republic of Ireland). The Commons voted against the Lords amendment, and the bill passed both Houses of Parliament unamended for enactment by royal assent, which was given on 16 March 2017.