Brexit: what next?

How linguists might be affected by the UK leaving the EU

The Queen in Through the Looking-Glass said to Alice, "Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." Her words sprang vividly to mind when I awoke, long before breakfast-time, on 24 June to the news that the UK had voted to leave the European Union. In fact, believing the frankly implausible seemed to be what campaigners were asking of voters from the very start. Every family £4,300 better off outside the EU? An extra £350 million for the health service? Wild claims about immigration and recession? Voters found it hard to know who to believe in a so-called 'post-fact' world.

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Read full in article in The Linguist, 55,4

Brexit vote: language organisations respond

UK-based bodies representing professional linguists have reacted to the result of the referendum on 23 June, in which 51.9% voted to leave the European Union. The Association of Translation Companies (ATC) warned the decision would have a "direct impact" on the sector. "As an organisation whose members are focused on supporting companies internationally with their language service needs, we are concerned and disappointed by the results of yesterday's referendum," said ATC General Secretary Geoffrey Bowden. In a recent survey, more than 60% of translation companies said business with EU-based enterprises would be compromised.

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Read full in article in The Linguist, 55,4