Brexit and UK policy-making: an overview

Abstract

The Westminster Model (WM) remains dominant in UK post-Brexit policy-making, with few signs that the UK Government is willing to cede power to the devolved administrations and external interests. Despite the plebiscitary vote for Brexit in the 2016 Referendum, the implementation of that change has been dependent on the vagaries of the WM, and a succession of internal crises within the governing Conservative Party. The case studies in the special issue illustrate how the consequent problems of complexity and capacity are compounded by the dilemma of tracking EU legislation while attempting to demonstrate that the UK has ‘taken back control’ and is delivering a ‘Global Britain’ strategy. This results in UK Brexit policy-making progressing in an ad hoc and unpredictable manner. The evidence from the case studies suggests that the UK will not become a rule taker but will increasingly seek to preserve or reclaim as much as possible of the benefits that it enjoyed as a full member state. This will not remove all the costs associated with Brexit, but over time it might significantly reduce them. The resulting compromise will not satisfy either Brexit purists or Remainers, but it is likely to become the agreed framework within which Governments operate.