Discussion on issues raised in the Brexit debate

Overview

The assignment from the English A exam on HHX from December 5th 2018 requires you to discuss the issues raised in the Brexit debate, particularly by young people, using the texts and videos indicated in your assignment.

All the texts create a sense of uncertainty over Brexit, as it is both a complex and unresolved issue, since a final deal has not been reached between the UK and the EU. The texts explore potential issues surrounding the access of British citizens to the EU’s single market, and the opportunities they might lose in terms of studying, working, travelling and living in EU countries, as well as the economic effect Brexit will potentially have on the UK.

The issue of uncertainty for Britain’s future is expressed in a straightforward manner in Text 4. British activist Madeleina Kay underlines that the British people did not specifically know what Brexit would entail before voting and will not know what to expect until a final Brexit deal is reached (02:37 – 02:46).

Social inequality

According to Text 2, young people today already find themselves in more difficult circumstances than previous generations, which had more advantages concerning education, the housing market, the job market, and their pensions (ll. 9-10). Text 2 also states that Brexit will mostly affect the young and the already disadvantaged. It supports this idea with statistics that show that youth unemployment in the UK was deeply affected by the financial crisis of 2008, and that it still remains an issue (ll. 20-22).

The idea of Brexit affecting those who are already vulnerable is also mentioned in Text 1: “Young people here might have moral objections to the consequences of Brexit, such as increased inequality and suffering among the most vulnerable in society” (ll. 33-35). Furthermore, Text 5 suggests that young people in the UK might have difficulties accessing higher education in the EU for financial reasons. British students in Maastricht currently pay 2,000 euros a year in tuition, five times less than in the UK. However, this might change after Brexit (01:04-01:20). Text 5 also points out that British research programmes might suffer after Brexit because they will no longer be able to access EU funding (01:21-01:25).

Workforce crisis

 According to Text 3...