Guest Lecture from the University of Birmingham upon the Pros and Cons of Brexit

05 April 2017

On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, International Relation (HI) Department of UPH Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) held a guest lecture with Prof. Barbara Fawcett and Dr. Kelly Hall from the University of Birmingham as key speakers.

(middle) Both Key Speakers, Prof. Barbara Fawcett and Dr. Kelly Hall along with (left) Dr. Edwin M.B. Tambunan, S.IP., M.Si, Head of International Relation Department (right) and Satyadhi Hendra, Operation Manager of Indonesia-Britain Education Centre (IBEC)

On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, the International Relation (HI) Department of UPH Faculty of Social and Political Sciences held a guest lecture with Prof. Barbara Fawcett and Dr. Kelly Hall from the University of Birmingham, at the D Building, Room 501, UPH Karawaci. The lecture mainly discussed a global issue which has been a popular issue lately, the discharge of Great Britain from European Union (EU), which was more likely known as Brexit (Britain Exit).

As members of the Social Policy Department University of Birmingham, both key speakers, Prof. Barbara and Dr. Kelly, are very suitable for the topic of this discussion regarding Brexit, which will be talking about its economic, politics as well as social aspects.

Prof. Barbara Fawcett

Prof. Barbara also informed that the Social Policy Department itself is a department which focuses itself in the discussion regarding social issues, consequences and its impacts on the life quality of individuals, families, communities and the society. Unlike Public Policy which focuses on Government Policies.

Back to the topic on Brexit, according to Dr. Kelly, this movement has drawn numerous debates, as well as pros and cons.

For the pros side, Dr. Kelly explained a number of aspects which supports the discharge of Great Britain from EU. Firstly, regarding law and policies, Great Britain (UK) will have its own authority over the two, which makes the country no longer obligated with EU law and policies. From the economics point of view, UK will have the freedom of trade and they wouldn’t have to give the financial contribution towards EU. Territory wise, UK will be free from the migration crisis issue which has been faced by EU in recent times, and surely, the country will have their own authority over the territorial borders.

From the law and policies point of view, UK will certainly need a long time in order to renegotiate matters regarding law, policies, human rights, and environment; and not to forget, the most unsettling matter is the outbreak of the Unitarian states within Great Britain. Thirdly, citizenship-wise, there will be some confusion regarding the unclear citizenship status for those who live and work in other countries within EU for less than five years and vice versa. The same thing goes with the status of pensionaries, would they be able to obtain health service supports as well as pension fund according to the laws in the country they’re in or do they have to change it according to the laws in the UK.

Dr. Kelly Hall

For the cons, from the economic perspective, there is the fear of a decline in business, and even the loss of quality workforce, which could have been gotten from other countries in EU; and also the possibility of the fall in pounds currency value. From the perspective of law and policies, UK will need a very long time in renegotiating rule of law, policies, human and nature rights.

“At the end of the day, the Brexit movement will greatly impact the economic, politic and social conditions. The impact rate of this movement will surely be felt in a macro, meso and micro state. This impact is related to the issues regarding migration, pensionary, political and economic situation, citizenship status, racism, discrimination and many more,” Dr. Kelly stated.

Aside from that, specifically, Prof. Barbara and Dr. Kelly also reminded UPH students:

“It is true that the Brexit issue is within the Europe and UK level, but then, we have to remember that this issue has expanded, thus it has become a global talk around the world. Thus, as students, you should this matter should become a lesson for all of you in Indonesia. Analyze the action, possible implications and the impacts it brings to respective countries; and hopefully, through this, all of you are encouraged to see an issue from diverse aspects, for Brexit itself has a rather great impact to various aspects,“ said Prof. Barbara.

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