IDS Research Fellow and ICTD Research Director
2020 was defined by disruption caused by Covid-19 and its global impacts as well as the departure of the UK from the European Union. Following the decision to leave in 2016 there followed many thousands of hours of negotiation between governments which ended at the very last minute with a withdrawal deal. Brexit has been delivered but leaves considerable uncertainty and anxiety over how relations between the UK and the EU will unfold in the future.
The ramifications of this outcome will be felt for years to come and will affect almost every part of the UK economy and society in unpredictable ways. Most urgent for those involved in development research and who engage in European research and teaching collaborations will be the impact on funding, partnerships, and movement of people. These impacts will each have profound effects on the ability of researchers from across Europe to live and work in the UK, and for UK researchers to be based in European countries. Students will be immediately affected by the UK leaving the Erasmus programme.