How are the United Kingdom and European Union related?
During World War II, many countries in Europe fought each other. Once the war was over, these countries felt the need to work together to recover from the losses of the war. But, each of these countries had different rules for education, living, trading, etc. This made working together very difficult. For example, if someone were to move or send goods from one country in Europe to another, they would have to go through a very lengthy process.
The idea of having the same rules for all countries in Europe gave birth to the European Union (EU) in 1951. Over time, all member countries of the EU started working together to benefit each other. The United Kingdom (UK) is one of the many countries situated in Europe. It joined the EU in 1973.
What is Brexit all about?
On 23 June 2016, the UK conducted a referendum and the people of the UK voted to exit the EU. With this decision, the UK became the first country to leave the EU. Around 52% of the people who voted chose to ‘leave’ the EU. The decision of the UK to exit the EU is popularly known as Brexit (a mix of the words Britain and exit).
Why did the United Kingdom decide to leave the European Union?
It is believed that immigration was one of the main reasons why the people of the UK decided to leave the EU. About 3,30,000 people immigrated to the UK from all of the EU in 2015 in search of a better life. Many citizens of the UK believed that the quality of services offered by schools, hospitals, etc. was decreasing due to a large number of immigrants.
