Political Unrest

Since the 2016 EU referendum, the United Kingdom has been attempting to establish a deal to leave the European Union, with this so far unsuccessful. The referendum was proposed as a result of a political manifesto, voted through due to varying opinions within the country, including immigration, political control and European Union fees (Rogers, et al., 2019). The EU Referendum is often referred to by the coined term Brexit. Since Brexit, Britain has been shaped through new attitudes, laws and plans (BBC, 2019a).

Following the referendum there have been many changes, one observed is the UK’s Economic growth (Hoang, 2017). Economic growth is largely decelerating and being repressed (Inman, 2019). With the prices of travel, property and electronics rising, companies are relocating from London, once the centre of economics and business, to different cities in economically prospering countries. Furthermore, trade will become an issue if hard Brexit deal goes through, as it will significantly slow it down, however there might also be shortages due to customs (BBC, 2019a). Social uncertainty is a dominant theme when it comes to Brexit. With a lack of clear knowledge about what the future holds for Britain, there is a great deal of public uncertainty (Walker et al., 2017). Fewer students are opting to study in the UK, as tuition fees and student loans for international students is unclear (Mitchell, 2019).

Since June 2019 Hong Kong and the entirety of China has been affected by ongoing anti-government protests. The first eruption of protests was over the implementation of a controversial extradition bill (Amnesty, 2019). The bill would allow the extradition of people not only to mainland China “but to any jurisdiction in the world with which Hong Kong has no existing formal agreement” (Liu, 2019).

The opposition to the extradition bill gathered two million protesters, from all walks of life and gained the attention of the international community. Online petitions were started by the protesters, university and secondary school alumni locally and globally (Li, 2019). The United Kingdom, Canada and The United States, few of the many who have voiced concern for the amendment with concerns surrounding the effect on international citizens in Hong Kong and the erosion of its independence (Li, 2019).

Resistance of the proposal is so strong due to the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ arrangement giving Hong Kong its own Judiciary and legal system unavailable to China, allowing rights for freedom of assembly and speech (BBC, 2019b). After the withdrawal of the bill the protests have not come to a standstill; however, the protests have shifted towards gaining greater independence and the resignation Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong. (Wood, 2019).

PESTLE P

Brexit voted following EU referendum.

S E

Figure 5

Economic growth in the UK has slowed down.

T

Social Uncertainty due to the unknown future of the UK.

L

Electronics are becoming more expensive in the UKdue to Brexit E