Patrick J. Birkinshaw

Britain Alone! Patrick J. Birkinshaw

The United Kingdom has been a member of the European Union for forty three years. Although EU membership has brought numerous indisputable benefits, anti-EU sentiment, simmering for decades, has now reached the point where an upcoming referendum could quite possibly lead to exit from the Union - an enormously topical issue dubbed 'Brexit'.

This very timely book addresses the major concerns and uncertainties associated with this looming prospect. Outstanding scholars of British constitutional law and EU law discuss such factors as the impact of EU membership on the UK constitution and the perspectives of the UK's constituent regions, along with numerous practical issues of economics and administration. Specific topics covered include: - the EU and the sovereignty debate; - the impact of Brexit in the devolved United Kingdom; - options available to the UK; - residence rights post-Brexit; - debates over the structure of the referendum; - existing and potential role of jurisprudence (domestic and EU); - environmental law; - negotiating treaties; - judicial protection; - Opt-outs; - EU criminal law; - labour rights; - equal protection; - human rights under the Charter of Fundamental Rights; and - financial and economic governance.

With Brexit becoming the largest single issue to affect the United Kingdom's place in the world, this volume is certain to be widely read and referenced in the time before, during, and after the referendum. It will also remain of great value as social, political, and economic events unfold in the post-referendum United Kingdom.