•           In this essay, I will present 3 or more reasons, citing textual evidence that answers the essential question, “What were the reasons the British people chose to leave the EU?”, and close with how it relates to today. 

     

              First, Brexit was partially caused by the fact that people like Tony Blair couldn’t make changes such as getting rid of VAT taxes on electricity and more because they were part of the European Union. 17 Reasons to Love Brexit, states, “In 1997, Tony Blair campaigned to scrap VAT on domestic gas and electricity. But because of the EU, he had to settle for 5 percent. Once we leave the EU, the government could do what Blair couldn’t.” Because the British people joined the EU, they couldn't have simple tax purchase rules and had to give their citizens VAT taxes on specific items such as domestic gas, electricity, and more. VAT taxes are taxes that are based on the value of a product. Or in other words, the more weight, the more tax on that good. Many consumers and producers believe that VAT taxing is complicated, so it should be stopped. However, the rules of the EU said that they needed to have VAT taxes, to help the European Union Cooperation, as a whole, rather than helping Britain. This economically disappointed buyers and sellers, yet they couldn’t refute it as their country was part of the EU. But with the start of Brexit, Britain can shift back to their ways of taxing that help everyone in it. Going back to before Brexit, Britain had to adopt the Euro as its form of currency. That then made its old currency, the pound sterling not valuable. Overall, one of the main factors of Brexit was how VAT taxes were issued and how it hurt Britain’s economy because it disappointed consumers and producers. 

     

              Second, another factor of Brexit was how the European Union focused on the entirety of Europe and its needs rather than Britain’s needs as a country, or any country for that matter. As 17 Reasons to Love Brexit explains, “Come Brexit, the government will be able to design funding for the country’s priorities.” Like other countries that didn’t join the EU, Britain thought joining the European Union would lower its national identity. Another reason that Brexit happened was that the pound, Britain’s national currency, was taken away since it was part of the EU. They then adopted the Euro, the European Union’s currency. This abolished the identity of Britain, as it had less culture since using the Euro made them less independent. Also viewing it economically, if the Euro’s value decreased, all the countries in the EU’s economy declined, regardless of whether they were involved. Yet, this is not the only form of national expression that is getting removed from Britain while it was in the European Union. Britain had to adopt an anthem and a flag, to show the world it was part of the EU. Britain also felt like their national interest was put underneath the European Union, so it had to leave to preserve itself. Also, as some articles say, Britain didn’t get as much out of the European Union as it intended to. So, all considered, a factor of Brexit was how Britain’s national identity and interests were put aside and the goods and uniqueness of the European Union were more cared about. 

     

              Third, another reason Brexit occurred was because of the laws imposed by the European Union government that restricted Britain from doing what it thought was right. According to 17 Reasons to Love Brexit, “In the 1990s, there were endless protests along the coast against exporting live lambs and calves for slaughter in Europe. The government wanted to ban the exports, but couldn't because of EU rules… In 2012, Nicola Sturgeon passed a law to impose minimum alcohol pricing in Scotland, but it has not come in because the [European Court of Justice] complained.” Every country, big or small, should have its own set of laws that should not be affected by joining any supranational cooperation. But, joining the EU takes away the power and set of laws that are given to a lot of countries, particularly, Britain. As we know, the British people had this as one of their reasons to campaign against the EU. As the evidence suggests, the European Union has lower moral standards than Britain, so they might not have cared for the lives of farm animals since their economy increased. But some in Britain might have wanted it gone due to their ethics and varying other reasons. Not only did the EU hurt the lives of sheep and cows, but it also damaged the lives of many people who drank alcohol. People like Nicola Sturgeon have attempted to better the lives of some in Scotland by putting minimum pricing on alcohol, but this idea was shut down by the EU. If countries with problems with the European Union did something about their situations, they might have made the rest of the EU for various countries better by applying the rule to everyone. These centrifugal laws hurt everyone in the EU, regardless of whether or not they are west in Britain or all the way north in Sweden. Overall, the British people chose to leave the European Union due to the ethics and laws that the EU had, which the British thought should be stopped, but couldn’t because they were in the European Union.


              In conclusion, many factors influenced the country of Great Britain from leaving the EU. The main ones included how the EU capped out Britain’s main sources of the economy and made VAT taxes, hurting consumers and producers. VATs on goods like domestic gas and electricity were confusing some and also disappointing others, making VATs not a good system of taxation. Yet, the European Union made sure that the VAT taxes were still there. Another reason that the British people chose to leave the EU was because of how it affected their national identity and interests. Symbols of Britain such as its flag, anthem, currency, and music were scrapped so that they would be replaced with EU ones, to unite the countries in the European Union. Although this had good intentions, the realization that every country wanted their national symbols back failed the attempt, as all the countries wanted their national identity back. Last but not least, Britain thought that slaughtering animals such as sheep and calves in live export was not ethical, so they tried to stop it. Yet, this change affected the economy of the EU so the idea was put to an end. This law change affected the lives of a lot, as European Union law should prevail if it conflicts with national law, according to the EU laws. This relates to today since the British people have already left the European Union and can now make important decisions more independently, for the benefit of their country, rather than the improvement of the EU, where Britain isn’t affected or helped by the choice, and maybe even hurt by it on some occasions. Not only Britain, but other countries like Scotland are hurt by the decisions and laws of the European Union, making them better on their own, not in a supranational cooperation. All considering, it was a wise decision by Great Britain to leave the EU, to benefit both themselves and the European Union.