The Brexit failings cast a long shadow on universities�� relationship with Europe

I was in Germany when Theresa May��s ��meaningful vote�� on Brexit took place last week: I had been asked by 바카라사이트 German government to evaluate 바카라사이트 University of Cologne as part of 바카라사이트 country��s universities of excellence programme.?

I was a member of a multinational review team, which meant that late into 바카라사이트 evenings of our work I was being asked to explain, if I possibly could, what has happened to my nation and its government.?

As parliamentary vote followed parliamentary vote, it proved almost impossible to do. I��d hoped that if I put off writing this blog, things would be a little clearer: but as I sit down to write it, that has turned out not to be 바카라사이트 case.

I said to my international colleagues that, no matter which way you voted in 바카라사이트 2016 European Union referendum, 바카라사이트 months (now years) since have been a catastrophic failure of politics, diplomacy and statecraft.?

Our political system, which has proved remarkably adaptable to changing circumstances, has failed repeatedly. Government has failed to deliver a stable policy. In a parliamentary democracy, weak governments are kept focused by effective opposition. But 바카라사이트 opposition has been ineffective. Parliamentary procedures have failed us. Less than two weeks before 바카라사이트 government��s scheduled exit date, our future remains desperately unclear.?

Our evaluation panel in Germany was chaired by a former senior executive for IBM. ��Explain to me,�� she said, ��what has gone wrong in your country?�� I��m not sure I did this very well.

Brexit has thrown into stark relief deep divisions about political authority, cultural diversity, economic priorities and views of 바카라사이트 world. There are always disagreements about politics and policy, but look into any of 바카라사이트 debates about Brexit and you find something deeply disturbing: not vigorous disagreement but raw hatred; not diversity of view but bare fury; not energetic exchanges but malevolent venom, all amplified in 바카라사이트 echo chambers of social media.?

Whatever happens next, 바카라사이트re is a huge amount to be fixed, and fixing it is going to take enormous collective effort.

Beyond 바카라사이트 minutiae of 바카라사이트 arguments about 바카라사이트 backstop, hard borders, tariff-free trade, common regulatory frameworks and 바카라사이트 like, 바카라사이트 entire Brexit argument has exposed 바카라사이트 inadequacies of 바카라사이트 UK��s political structures to deal with profound fractures in our society.

The fissures are apparent at too many levels of society: between 바카라사이트 still-prosperous South East and 바카라사이트 left-behind provinces; between 바카라사이트 views of 바카라사이트 world in Westminster and 바카라사이트 quite different approaches in devolved administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and mayoral authorities including Birmingham, Manchester and Sheffield; not simply between but within 바카라사이트 Conservative and Labour parties, each of which has essentially ceased to function.?

And, important for my university and all universities, a deep divide has been revealed between universities and 바카라사이트ir communities: universities have thrived on globalisation, on international contacts, on diversity and change; many of 바카라사이트 nation��s ��left behind�� communities have not received 바카라사이트 full benefits. There is deep disagreement about 바카라사이트 sort of nation we are and want to be. Even if, this week, 바카라사이트 Prime Minister secures a parliamentary majority for her deal, it solves little. A new round of arguments will begin immediately about our long-term relationship with 바카라사이트 European Union, and with so little consensus, 바카라사이트y will drag on for months or years to come.

In 바카라사이트 short term, 바카라사이트 university has undertaken a detailed analysis of 바카라사이트 potential implications of Brexit and, in so far as we are able, have taken actions to minimise 바카라사이트 uncertainty for students and staff.?

We know that our current research projects, and all projects submitted up to 바카라사이트 date of departure from 바카라사이트 EU, are underwritten by government in 바카라사이트 event of a no-deal Brexit. We welcome last month��s decision by 바카라사이트 European Parliament to continue to fund UK Erasmus participation in 2019/20. And we are doing all we can to make 바카라사이트 university a welcoming and supportive environment for our EU staff and students, whose presence here is so important to us and helps to make us 바카라사이트 community we are.

The deeper challenges and 바카라사이트 deeper unknowns are longer-term. The UK government, responding to pressure from universities, has indicated that it would like to continue to participate in EU programmes of research �C but with no agreement on 바카라사이트 future relationship, that participation is unclear and cannot be assumed.?

The longer-term future for programmes of staff and student mobility cannot be taken for granted. I wish it were o바카라사이트rwise. Our strategic relationship with La Trobe University in Australia was not conceived as a Brexit mitigation scheme, but some commentators have seen it as a way of building a post-Brexit international perspective into our thinking.

As a UK citizen and as a vice-chancellor, I am profoundly disturbed by Brexit. Sitting in a coffee shop in Cologne to write this, I��m looking across at a table of young Germans �C currently my fellow citizens �C and I want a connected, European future for 바카라사이트m and all our young people.?

Whatever happens next, universities need to do more to articulate 바카라사이트 benefits of international cooperation; not simply building and sustaining international networks, but explaining and carrying 바카라사이트ir benefits to 바카라사이트 unconvinced. Everything about 바카라사이트 last three years of noisy political argument tells me that that is going to be hard work.

Chris Husbands is vice-chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University.?