UPDATE 6/24/16: We all know what happened. Blame the olds. Credit a deceiving ad campaign. Also: Trump doesn’t understand what Scotland is. Oh, and stock tip during today’s financial swoon: There are deals to be had.)
Brexit — or a British exit from the European Union — is a fun term coined for a not-so-fun topic.
On June 23rd, citizens of the UK will vote (Editor’s note: And so they did…to leave) to decide whether or not they’ll remain in the EU. Despite being opposed by the Prime Minister, opposition party leader, Mayor of London and President Barack Obama, current polls suggest the vote will be an extremely close one.
(As for who favors a Brexit? Donald Trump, naturally.)
The fight has gotten pretty heated in and out of Parliament: killings aside, literally, there was recently a pro-Brexit flotilla of ships on the Thames that passed right by the House of Parliament.
But in the spirit of good ol’ American exceptionalism, we want to know how the referendum will affect us colonists. Not just in terms of international relations, but also more pressing matters — like booze, sports and vacation.
Travel
If you’ve ever flown into Heathrow airport, you’ve seen the separate lines for EU and non-EU citizens. Even if you’re one of the unlucky travelers who has to wait on the non-EU citizen line, you know it would be a whole lot longer if all the European travelers joined you. A vote to leave the EU could result in creating JFK-like traffic in busy UK airports. Nobody wants that.
But a vote in favor of leaving the EU could make traveling to the UK cheaper, as well. It’s suggested that by leaving the EU, the value of the pound will weaken — at least in the short term. Score one for Brexit.
Sports
As many as 332 players currently employed in the top tiers of English and Scottish football (er, soccer, for us Yanks) could be displaced. The additional hassle of visas for European athletes also makes a Brexit vote cause to cross England off potential home to international sports events — like hosting the World Cup or another Olympics.
Hollywood
“Our global creative success would be severely weakened by walking away,” states a letter signed by more than 250 British celebrities urging their fellow Brits to hold steady. Everyone from Patrick Stewart to Keira Knightley feels strongly that leaving the EU could negatively affect the entertainment industry. They fear that Hollywood’s across-the-pond backlots could be in jeopardy of losing EU-backed film subsidies. And what would Hollywood be without movies shot in England?
Alcohol
Prime Minister David Cameron warned his citizens that voting to leave the EU would impact the booze trade, causing dramatic job losses. Possibly even more upsetting to the British people, Cameron said gin quality would go down because they’ve been benefitting from higher EU standards. On the other hand, a vote favoring Brexit, and in turn decreasing the value of the pound, would make wine cheaper for consumers outside of the UK.
Well, cheers to that, at least.
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