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Business News/ Opinion / Quick Edit/  Opinion | The Brexit ballot smasher
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Opinion | The Brexit ballot smasher

What happens now? Apart from the UK leaving the EU, secessionist sentiment—from the British union—is likely to rise in Northern Ireland and Scotland

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he arrives at 10 Downing Street on the morning after the general election in London. (REUTERS)Premium
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he arrives at 10 Downing Street on the morning after the general election in London. (REUTERS)

Boris Johnson’s election gamble paid off in the UK, and how! He won a decisive majority in Thursday’s general election, paving the way for Brexit’s campaigner-in-chief to deliver Brexit. The win that Johnson and his Conservative party achieved is being hailed as historic. His party is set to get 365 seats—or thereabouts—in the country’s 650-seat Parliament, making it the biggest win since Margaret Thatcher’s 1987 victory. Such a clear Tory win makes it certain that Britain will leave the European Union at the end of next month, dashing all hope of a second referendum.

The numbers point to a sense of exasperation among Britons, who, fed up with everything Brexit-related, seem to be saying that enough is enough and it’s time to get out of the Union, deal or no deal. This, indeed, was the crux of Johnson’s message. The opposition Labour Party, which had veered left under Jeremy Corbyn and was seen as waffling about on Brexit, lost a large number of its seat. The centrist Liberal Democrats did poorly too, with their party leader Jo Swinson losing her own seat. Analysts believe that the appeal of Johnson’s Brexit clarity encroached on traditional Labour turf, swinging working class votes away.

What happens now? Apart from the UK leaving the EU, secessionist sentiment—from the British union—is likely to rise in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Notably, the pro-EU Scottish Nationalist Party did relatively well, and its campaign for independence may pick up. That’s what stoking nativist passions tends to do. If Britons have developed a heightened sense of nationalism, well, so have Scots and Irish folk, many of whom would rather be European than Brits.

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Published: 13 Dec 2019, 03:41 PM IST
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