Brexit, pursued by a ’mare

As the UK returns to work, the mood in universities will be far from buoyant

Staff and students will arrive on campus today in much the same way as they did last week. But in many institutions, the atmosphere will have changed.

Transitional arrangements mean that for the next year or so, the UK remains politically aligned with Europe in much the same way it has been since it joined the European Economic Community in 1973 (although it now has no say or influence over proceedings in the European Parliament). But in reality, today is the first day of work in Brexit Britain—and given that the vast majority of higher education staff, and more than 70 per cent of 18-to-24-year-olds, voted to remain, university campuses are likely to be feeling the change more acutely, and more painfully, than most workplaces.