2019 was the year when Brexit became a certainty, and it will affect Britons’ lives in myriad ways. Co-editors Ros Taylor and Roch Dunin-Wąsowicz pick out some of the highlights of LSE Brexit’s coverage.
1. Duncan Morrow on Northern Ireland
For my money, no one in academia writes more clearly about the border tensions in Northern Ireland. (RT)
2. What’s wrong with the WTO
In this prescient post, Steve Woolcock (LSE) explains why the World Trade Organization is faltering and ‘Let’s Go WTO’ is a fantasy. (RT)
3. European Parliament election posters from 1979
In 2019, Britain took part in its last European Parliament elections. These posters and campaign materials from LSE Library are a poignant reminder of the hope that the idea of Europe carried in 1979, when the first EP elections were held. (RT)
Campaigning leaflets from the first European Parliament election in 1979
4. Do the French care about Brexit?
They’re devastated that we’re leaving … Er, no. Some of them think we’ve left already. (RT)
5. Why epistocracies are a bad thing
The idea of a ‘voting test’ has been mooted by some thinkers. Linsey McGoey (University of Essex) disagrees. (RT)
How John Stuart Mill can help tame ideological Brexit free-riders
6. What makes a prorogation improper?
Legal scholar Tarun Khaitan responds to Anne Twomey’s post for LSE Brexit, arguing for an alternative test of whether Boris Johnson’s move to prorogue Parliament was improper. (RT)
From ‘purpose’ to ‘effect’: a principled way to decide whether prorogation is legal
7. ‘Are they even aware that we can see them?’
Lisa Mckenzie’s reports on her interviews with working-class Britons in Nottinghamshire and east London are consistently among the most popular posts on LSE Brexit. (RT)
‘Are they even aware that we can see them?’ Working-class Britons on Brexit politics
8. What if the UK had taken advantage of the EU’s ‘three-month rule’?
Tessa Buchanan (UCL) and colleagues suggest that the notion the EU allows ‘unlimited migration’ is inaccurate. (RT)
What policy do British voters want on EU immigration? Is there a hidden consensus?
9. Negotiating with the EU proved very difficult. Why?
LSE’s N Piers Ludlow says that Britain never really understood how the EU worked, despite its long membership. (RT)
10. Economic consequences of Brexit are overwhelmingly negative
The economic consequences of Brexit are overwhelmingly negative, estimate Swati Dhingra and Thomas Sampson (LSE). (RDW)
11. Global Britain? Replacing the EU with the Commonwealth is fanciful
Replacing participation in the European Union with enhanced cooperation at the Commonwealth is not a viable option for the UK, writes Rishi Gulati (LSE). (RDW)
Global Britain? Replacing the EU with the Commonwealth is fanciful
12. Does New Zealand provide Brexit lessons for Britain?
Hamish McDougall (LSE) argues that parallels between New Zealand and Britain in the event of a no-deal Brexit are tenuous. (RDW)
13. Will of the people vs democracy: Brexiteers are turning into their own worst enemy
Brexiteers have begun to behave just like their worst enemy, writes Pravar Petkar (LSE). (RDW)
Will of the people vs democracy: Brexiteers are turning into their own worst enemy
14. The powerful psychological rationale behind the desire for a no-deal Brexit
Nick Westcott (SOAS) writes about the political psychology of Brexit. (RDW)
Long read | The powerful psychological rationale behind the desire for a no-deal Brexit
15. The European Union is a liberal empire, and it is about to fall
The European Union is a liberal empire, and it is about to fall, warns Wolfgang Streeck (Max Planck Institut). (RDW)
Long read | The European Union is a liberal empire, and it is about to fall
16. It’s the English, stupid! Brexit is an expression of English nationalism
Hudson Meadwell (McGill University) writes that the national structure of the UK and Britain, and the political organisation and expression of that structure, are keys to understanding Brexit. (RDW)
It’s the English, stupid! Brexit is an expression of English nationalism
17. Is Brexit the will of the people? The answer is not quite that simple
Is Brexit really the will of the British people? Christian List (LSE) takes a critical look at this question. (RDW)
Is Brexit the will of the people? The answer is not quite that simple
18. Labour’s Brexit capitulation is the end of Corbynism
The Labour party’s Brexit capitulation was a betrayal of Labour supporters who voted Leave, and it heralds the end of Corbynism as a political project, argues Lee Jones (QMUL). (RDW)
Long read | Labour’s Brexit capitulation is the end of Corbynism
