British "Neoliberalism" And "Brexit" Paradox

Since the Brexit referendum in 2016,the Brexit event has always been a hot research direction in international politics.Many scholars believe that Brexit is an anti-neoliberal,anti-free market movement,but this contradicts the fact that the UK’s dominant ideology has always been neoliberal since the 1980s,resulting in the so-called "Brexit" paradox.This paper starts from the comparison of the macroeconomic system of the UK and the EU,the political party elites and the voters in the UK.My research found that although both the UK model and the EU model are influenced by neoliberal theories and emphasize free markets and competition in the economy,in general the EU is more influenced by the German social market economy model and European social traditions,while the UK is more deeply influenced by the American model.Therefore,there are differences and conflicts of interest betw een the two,such as the importance of social policy goals and labor market regulation.In addition,British political parties are the main actors in the process of Brexit,whether it is the British Conservative Party,Labour Party or Independent Party,all of which have challenged the UK’s neoliberal growth model.However,ultimately they have varying degrees of impact on Brexit due to different political agendas and calculations.The right-wing political representatives in the British Conservative Party mainly want to complete the transformation of the neoliberal growth model within the neoliberal paradigm,while the left wing headed by Corbyn in the Labour Party want to replace the neoliberalism with democratic socialism.However,due to the obstruction of the"Blair faction" within the Labour Party,the Labour Party’s position in the entire "Brexit" movement was ambiguous and its mobilization was weak.The Independence Party,as a small party,mainly aims to complete "Brexit" in the "Brexit" movement,and positions itself to influence public perceptions,shape political issues and influence the country’s political agenda.The serious social polarization and the gap between the rich and the poor caused by neoliberalism,the weakening of the role of trade unions as a social balancing force,and the increasingly blurred ideological boundaries between the two major political parties have all made the "losers" under the neoliberal political and economic system,namely Low-income,low-educated voters are more likely to vote for Brexit.Although the economic proposition of the "Remain in the EU" has been more recognized,it has not reached the target support ratio to win the referendum.In addition,the post-2010 austerity policy has worsened the economic situation of people at the bottom who are more dependent on welfare,which makes them more receptive to the far-right’s framework of blaming domestic economic and social problems on EU immigration and targeting the Britain’s EU membership.