Brexit

A century on from the creation of Northern Ireland, its society is once again deeply divided about the need for, and implications of, a border being drawn around it. Local tensions reflect suspicion regarding the actions of London, as well as long-existing sensitivities and a profound sense of uncertainty about the future.

The Covid-19 vaccine rollout played a big part in the Conservatives’ success at the 2021 local elections, but the shrivelling of political debate in the UK and an appetite for big government also played a role.

The coronavirus pandemic – just like society – runs along fault lines of gender, race, class and other inequalities. With women over-represented in vulnerable frontline jobs, there are fears that technologies proposed to tackle the pandemic could inflict harms that differ based on gender. 

To which extent is the coronavirus pandemic having an impact on the current Brexit negotiations? Is Brexit one of the priorities for the German Council Presidency? And what is the outlook on the future EU-UK relationship in the next decade(s)? 

Britain is in the midst of finalising the Brexit transition process while also being hit especially hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. The German Council Presidency has to protect public health all over Europe while also preventing another financial crisis from happening. But this might also give new momentum to systemic change towards a more sustainable economy.

After countless hours of negotiations, frustration and the United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union after 47 years of membership bearing the words “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations. 31 January 2020”. 

The Conservative election victory has killed the last hopes of averting Brexit and set the stage for disaster capitalism and climate chaos. The work of building an alternative world must take place not in government offices, but on the streets.

Brexit is patriarchal and a threat to human rights. Turning a feminist lens onto Brexit, then, reveals a host of concerning power struggles running throughout the process and wider British politics. From racist and Islamophobic narratives underpinning the Vote Leave campaign, to the idealisation of Britain the Empire: Brexit is a feminist issue.

Brexit, Boris Johnson, Backstop - these are the November 2019 headlines of the British media. But with each new passing headline, every new article title aimed to draw the reader in, and in all the subsequent debates at both the domestic and regional level, the issue of gender has been notably absent.