Brexit and Health: A Tragedy of Errors

Abstract

In 2015, a new word entered the English language. This was Brexit, short for “British Exit from the European Union”. The Conservative party, then led by David Cameron, had long been divided between those who believed that the United Kingdom’s (UK) future was only secure by remaining part of the by then 28 country European Union (EU) and those who portrayed the EU as some distant dictatorship, staffed by people who spent their days plotting how to damage the UK’s interests. The former view was held by most of the party’s Members of Parliament. The latter view was increasingly prevalent among the diminishing and ageing band of party members but, perhaps more importantly, the British tabloid press, dominated by a few powerful individuals. This split had existed for many years, seriously weakening the party, but the situation was becoming critical as the Conservatives were threatened, electorally, by the growth of the United Kingdom Independence Party. With no consistent, or indeed coherent policies except exiting the EU, it appealed especially to those who had been left behind by the process of globalization, a phenomenon that will be familiar to readers from the United States. Indeed, its leader, Nigel Farage, closely aligned himself with Donald Trump during the latter’s election campaign.