Brexit impact unclear

This island’s Ambassador to CARICOM, His Excellency Hon. Robert “Bobby” Morris, has stated that while he was unsure about the impact that Brexit will have on the Caribbean he has noticed that Britain has increased its trade with Barbados.

 

That point was made during a panel discussion that was led by Moderator Corey Sandiford, and discussed by panelists, Political Consultant Peter Wickham and Writer and Communications Consultant Adwele Boyce at the Christ Church Foundation School on Wednesday night. The topic was The Economic, Social and Political Implications of the Brexit Vote on the Caribbean.

 

Ambassador Morris, who spoke at length of the genesis of the European Union (EU), highlighted that it was not a very old institution, but pointed out that Britain had never committed fully to it. He stated that this could be due to the fact that Britain has long been accustomed to control, having controlled a better space than the EU. Therefore, the country’s vote to exit the EU should not have come as a surprise to former British Prime Minister David Cameron and his administration. 

 

Moreover, he speculated that it will be difficult for British travellers to come to the Caribbean and will impact how much they will spend. As for the political aspect, the Ambassador expects that Britain will use the Commonwealth as some form of a “fall back” position.

 

Wickham was of the view that Mr. Cameron was surprised by the country’s vote to Brexit and suspected that he used it as a strategy to retain office. Wickham further expounded that gone are the days where people vote blindly, and so, due to much of the racism and xenophobia, the British opted to leave. As for its impact on the Caribbean, Wickham too admitted that it is uncertain and markets do not like uncertainty.

 

Boyce was straight forward in stating that the preferential access to the EU will be lost by Barbados and the Caribbean. This, he said, is an opportunity to perhaps improve marketing strategies and techniques in order to cushion the impact that could be felt. Additionally, he said that he was disappointed with CARICOM as he heard no forth coming assurance of plans to combat or mitigate the problems of Brexit should any arise. Moreover, he expressed that the Prime Minister’s statement of “let’s wait and see” is quite worrisome for him as a young person.

 

Upon the conclusion of the presentations, few questions were entertained from those gathered.