Why is Teresa May getting all this hate and why does the uk wanna leave the EU so badly?
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I’ll copy and paste some reasons some Brits want to leave the EU below, as to the former question: Britain is split between remainers and leavers, remainers dislike her for trying to leave the EU, leavers for failing. The deal she negotiated was poor, and when it failed to get through parliament she neither called a second referendum (to try to remain) nor left without a deal. Instead she just waited a bit, and then called another parliamentary vote, and another, and another. When the deadline to leave came around, she asked for an extention, and then another… Eventually she was forced to leave, having achieved nothing and satisfied no one.
As to why leave: Firstly it should be noted that the reason the government are trying to leave is because it was voted for, and this not leaving would damage faith in UK democracy and see the governing party destroyed at the next election.
The reason people voted leaave though: “There are a lot of different motivations, and not all supporters of leaving hold all of them. I’ll list a few below.
Freedom of Movement: Predominantly a British issue, the EU mandates that every citizen of the EU has the right to live, work, study etc in other countries of the EU. This has caused some issues, in the UK a number of people are unhappy with the level of migration from Eastern Europe to the UK. Thus they want to leave the EU.
Soverignity: One primary EU goal is “ever closer union” – essentially its slow transformation into a federal country like the US. Some people don’t feel European, and thus don’t want to be part of this federal Europe, and feel leaving is the only way to stop it. For example, they might want “their own government” to decide on regulations – because they do not feel like the EU is “their own”.
Democracy: The EU has some issues with democracy. Its executive is not directly elected and a lot of power is held by various unelected officals through its institutions. A lot of power is also organised through countries within Europe, so rather than power being held by its citizens it is held by the German Chancellor or the British PM etc. Some don’t feel that the EU is sufficently democractic, and don’t think it can be reformed to be democratic, and so want to leave. Arguments on the nature of power are difficult to ELI5, since they are heavily linked to both how the EU is organised, how it actually works (i.e. including backroom deals and so on) and more philosphical arguments about democracy.
The Euro: This does not apply to the UK, except through the paranioa they might be forced to join. However it is a motivator for some continental views. Simply put, the Euro is not very stable. It links together economies that are very different, without strong safeguards. During the 2008 recession this had a devastating effect, causing a massive recession in poorer countries like Greece, and dropping much of the rest of Europe into a recession in 2010. Under the Euro southern Europe has struggled to grow, with a number of countries having not grown much since they joined. Whether this is the Euro’s fault, if it can or will be fixed, and so on, are still debated. However for those who think the Euro is a problem, there is no legal way out, so leaving seems the only solution for some.
Trade: Being part of the EU removes a nation’s ability to set its own trade policy – it cannot negotiate its own deals or set its own tarrifs or subsidies. Sometimes this results in deals not totally in a nation’s favour. For example a country without significant agriculture might see the EU push for protection for farmers, which pushes its food prices up to protect another country’s farms. Often disagreements within the EU causes deals to fail as well. Some people think that being outside the EU will allow for more trade deals, and for those deals to be better focused on that nation’s interests, and thus want to leave.
Money: The EU collects money and pays it back out (like all governments). Some nations pay more than they directly receive, and thus some of their citizens feel they could save money by leaving.
Please note: These are motivations, not watertight arguments. You may see flaws in them, they may not meet your values at all (e.g. you might not care about immigration). This does not matter – what matters is that people belive them, and that people care about them, and that makes them want to leave the EU. I have probably missed some arguments. I have deliberatly ignored counter arguments since a balanced, nuanced, and in depth perspective would fill books. Also I do not agree with all of them, so would rather clarify than defend them.”
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