London Loses its Lovers
Hunter Campolo, staff writer
Things are looking grim for the United Kingdom. Don’t celebrate yet though, as nothing is set in stone. It does, however, not look great for them. After they left the European Union to become an independent country through a movement called “Brexit” in 2021, they were faced almost instantly by crippling inflation and labor shortages due to COVID and other poorly timed laws. And now, after five prime ministers in five years, they find themselves wishing to return to their glorious British Empire 1922 that owned 26 percent of the world.
Brexit was the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union (EU), which is a group of all the European countries that work together to manage common laws and trade across Europe. The British leaders promised that leaving would somehow strengthen the economy and retain seamless trade but leaving the EU simply increased friction between all their trades. According to the Centre for European Reform, UK goods exports were roughly 15% lower than what they would’ve been if they never split.
Before Brexit, anyone could move into the country and work without a visa. By passing a law to end the free movement of people, 1.3 million immigrant workers that left during COVID could not return to work, destroying their cheap labor pipeline. Because the new visa system introduced a strict salary and skill requirement, jobs in hospitality, transport, agriculture, construction, and any other entry level jobs were instantly scrambling trying to find new workers to fill the positions.
This labor shortage caused a lack of Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) Drivers, which caused fuel shortages and empty shelves at grocery stores: Two of the biggest things citizens can’t stand for. To add to that, there weren’t enough farmers to manage the farms, so crops started rotting unharvested in fields. Even if they could be harvested, they had nobody to drive the goods to the stores. At least they’ll make great fertilizer for the next plants!
Inflation is moderately high too, partially due to the labor shortage, at 3.1 percent and rising, as opposed to the two percent target rate. This is much lower than the 11.1 percent spike in October of 2022, but still not ever great to see. Prices going up is catastrophic for the British, due to their record-breaking 6.8 million people living in deep poverty, reported by the British Association of Social workers. For the 70 million people there, that’s about 1/7 people being unable to put food on the table, if they even own a table to begin with.
On top of all this economic strife, there is a push for the UK to split apart. Now, like a war veteran experiencing PTSD, the UK is reeling in terror as the regions of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all simultaneously pushing for independence from the motherland. I’m getting déjà vu all of a sudden…. They’re tired of being under The United Kingdom’s control, and they were all against Brexit when it was pushed through, so they are obviously unhappy with the current leadership. Combined with the economic struggles the country is facing, they are looking to rejoin the EU under their own banners.
Many Brits are asking each other the same questions over tea and biscuits: Will history repeat itself and allow more countries to split from Britain? Or will the mismanaged government get a grip and stop the uprising, fix inflation, solve the labor shortage, and get their country back on track?
