Three warnings for the UK from Down Under

‘Brexit is just more proof the Poms have gone mad. As if we needed it’ said my colleague at Flinders University. And then she laughed. A lot.

Obviously this was banter – and no self-respecting Aussie is going to pass up an opportunity to poke fun at the British – but there was an element of seriousness about it. As the UK approaches the sharp end of Brexit, the shenanigans around Theresa May’s attempts to sell her Brexit deal has attracted a lot of media coverage. Some of it makes for great TV: the impeccable but arcane manners of Jacob Rees Mogg or the blustering Bunterisms of Boris Johnson are relatively alien to culturally egalitarian Australia. But there is also concern. For in this young, optimistic, and diverse country, the UK’s increasingly chaotic Brexit journey is also watched with puzzlement and dismay. Through talking to friends and colleagues, as well as media coverage and expert comment in Australia, here are three warnings for the UK from the Down Under.