The negotiation.

The negotiation.

The Brexit debate is one emotive issue that has dominated UK politics for the last three and a half years. Since its conceptualization in 2016, UK’s decision to depart from the EU sparked a huge negotiation that could see Britain walk away or remain part of the over forty-six years union in foreign policy, trade, and security. Politics have taken center stage with politicians weighing in on the matter from across the divide. On one side is the pro-Brexit conservative party and Labour Party pro-remain team. These Brexit debates in UK circles have regularly misled EU’s objectives, and the nation risks crashing out of the union with no end to the negotiations on sight. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative party insist that he can straighten out the fundamentals of future relationships in post-Brexit Britain in matters of trade, workers’ rights, and environmental protection. Opposition Labour Party, on the other hand, wants some deal, and are avoiding a possible no-deal trap as January 31, 2020, deadline is fast approaching. Their proposal is for the UK to remain a member of the European Union’s single market and customs union. Even though they will not have representation or decision making power. Whichever the case, the Brexit debate’s ultimate goal is to get the peoples to say what is best for British nationals (Rankin, 2019).

Power Play

There has been a vicious power play at the center of the Brexit debate. And it’s the main reason Boris Johnson was unable to deliver Brexit, despite his hard talk on the matter. Amidst these power struggles, he has been forced to secure a three months extension past the 31^st October deadline from the EU. Having inherited a minority government from his predecessor Theresa May, the PM does not have majority seats in the House of Commons. Neither can he make any policy changes through a parliamentary process. Therefore, the political assertions made between him and the EU only reveal a small portion of the political minefield that is the Brexit debate. According to Barry, Lewicki, & Saunders (2016), no one side in a negotiation has absolute powers over the other, and as such, it all depends on perceptions. How well, a party to a negotiation influences such perceptions will determine the ultimate outcome of such negotiations. The United Kingdom can attempt to utilize such powers by walking away from the EU, coming out as a party that is in complete control in the negotiations. Consequently, the UK government could represent the facts of their exit deal for the best interest of Britain as accurately as possible in order to influence the negotiations. However, there is a discrepancy between the two negotiating parties since the UK has a knowledge gap in negotiating trade agreements. Primarily because they have not engaged in any for the last forty years (Rankin, 2019). There is a need for both the EU representatives and the government need to agree on how to work out some things mutually on carbon pricing, data protection, illegal migration, aviation, and money laundering.

Checkmate

The Brexit stalemate seems to persist as Johnson is forced to eat a humble pie by requesting an extension past the October 31, 2019, deadline. As a PM, Johnson got into the position on the promise that he would deliver Brexit before its due date. According to him, the matter would have been done and dusted before long. Little did he know of the opposition he would face, as it turned out to be the biggest negotiation in UK in a post-war age (Rankin, 2019). In an interview with the Guardian, the former Permanent Secretary in the department of Exiting EU, one Philip Rycroft said that it would require massive government efforts. He also said that the negotiations were five times bigger than the previous withdrawal agreements. To break this impasse, Johnson has had to use a win-win strategy of changing the current parliament setup (Barry, Lewicki, & Saunders 2016). It is for this reason that the PM proposes a December 12 snap election, within the extended period. His goal is to see whether he can raise majority seats in the House of Commons, with which he can break the current deadlock through a parliamentary process.

Communication Barriers

To a large extent, the prevailing political noise and misconception have been the biggest barrier to the negations with politicians allied to both divides trading accusations (Barry, Lewicki, & Saunders 2016). Some allies to the EU are seen to accuse the PM of stalling the negotiations leading to a situation where UK crashes out of EU with no deal. Others seem to be of the opinion that it’s near impossible for the PM to negotiate a free-trade deal post-Brexit after leaving the EU on January 31, 2020, within 11 months. However, politicians allied to Johnson’s Brexit agenda remain adamant that the PM is committed to delivering the deal with no extension to the transit period. True intentions of the negotiations like environmental protection, zero-quotas, zero-tariffs, and workers’ rights are caught up in the crossfire (Rankin, 2019).