In 2016, the United Kingdom voted to exit the European Union and strike out on its own. The referendum only passed with a 51.9% majority, and has been contentious ever since. Recently, the members of parliament have been arguing about what trade deal needs to be made with the EU and how the transition of exit will occur. Prime Minister Theresa May’s specific plan has been voted down, and she has narrowly survived a vote of no confidence (wherein she would have had to resign or call a general election). This was 1 of only 23 votes of no confidence to occur since 1945.
Instructors, click on the link below to download this week’s lecture for use in your classroom. The deck contains a writing prompt, a debate question, as well as other assessment questions.
Download the PowerPoint Lecture Spark for Brexit Update
Video
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says he will table a motion of no confidence in Theresa May. He says the move is because of the PM’s failure to hold a meaningful vote on her Brexit deal.
Introduction to the British political system for non-Brits.
Articles
- Brexit: Theresa May’s deal is voted down in historic Commons defeat
- Jeremy Corbyn tables no-confidence motion after May defeat – as it happened
- The Brexit deal was defeated in Parliament. Here’s what happens next.
- British PM narrowly survives no-confidence vote after historic Brexit defeat
Assessment
Writing: What do you think of the nature of the UK political system that the leader of the government regularly has to discuss or defend their policies among a group of representatives of the people?
Debate: Should the leader of a country have to defend their policies regularly to a legislature? Why or why not? What might some concerns be with having or missing this process?
Poll: Is the ongoing Brexit crisis something that you are concerned about?
- Yes
- No
- Unsure
Short Answer: How do you think the Brexit issues might be relevant (or not) to the government, politics, economy, etc. of the United States?
Current Events Quiz
Prime Minister May’s Brexit deal being voted down has been called the:
- Greatest win for a sitting government in history
- Largest defeat for a sitting government in history
- Most tragic moment of the century
- Most contentious vote in British Parliamentary history
As a result of this vote, opposition party leader Jeremy Corbyn called for a:
- Vote of displeasure
- Vote of general unsureness
- Vote of confidence
- Vote of no confidence
Because the Brexit deal was defeated, and she survived a vote of no confidence, Prime Minister May will have to deliver a:
- New government
- Series of measures
- “Mayxit”
- Plan B
Mr. Corbyn’s deputy says that among the other things she lacks to run the country, PM May most crucially lacks the:
- Guts
- Voice
- Policy
- Tenacity
PM May now wants parliament to work together to:
- Set out what it wants
- Ally with Norway
- Move towards rejoining the EU
- Remove Corbyn from power
Featured image credit: From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.