Without a trade agreement in 2018, the United Kingdom is at risk of crashing out of the EU.
Leaving the European Union is not that simple. Having pulled off a with the European Commission to move forward, Brexit Britain is feeling the burn this winter. The next stage is the big one: future trade relations. If all goes well, the talks should be coming to a close by fall 2018.
But it鈥檚 hardly that black and white for the land of the Union Jack. For Callum Williams of The Economist, 鈥淏rexit has harmed Britain鈥檚 standing in Europe.鈥� Described by some as 鈥�,鈥� the Conservative Party government, led by Prime Minister Theresa May, has been criticized for lacking a clear strategy for leaving the EU.
Ed Miliband, the former leader of the opposing Labour Party, didn鈥檛 hold back when he : 鈥淲hat an absolutely ludicrous, incompetent, absurd, make it up as you go along, couldn鈥檛 run a piss up in a brewery bunch of jokers there are running the government at the most critical time in a generation for the country.鈥�
The UK capital is an international city, and Brexit could lead to big banks and companies grabbing their passports and heading to mainland Europe. For Williams, 鈥淟ondon assumed this position as the number one destination for people to go and work from abroad. I think Brexit will threaten that.鈥�
Trade deals are far from easy, especially when it鈥檚 with a bloc of nations like the EU 鈥� just . The fear is that talks between London and Brussels will break down. Despite the British government鈥檚 openness about walking away without a deal 鈥� effectively crashing out of the EU overnight 鈥� the economic repercussions could be dire. Italian journalist Beppe Severgnini sums it up: 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need to be a financial wizard to understand that people are worried, investors are worried, and they may well take their money away somehow from Britain.鈥�
*Watch the video above as The Economist explains what lies ahead for Brexit Britain in 2018.
The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.
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