By LSE authors
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Permalink Bodleian Library via a CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0 licence" />GalleryNot always so Eurosceptic: Britain and the inter-war dream of European unity
Bodleian LibraryNot always so Eurosceptic: Britain and the inter-war dream of European unity
Britain has not always been reluctant to countenance European unity. Tommaso Milani (LSE) recalls the intellectual impetus for a European community in the inter-war period, which was driven by a desire for peace and, from some, the left-wing case for a socialist European economy.
As history is written and rewritten in constant dialogue with the present, Brexit is likely to […]
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Permalink Wikimedia Commons (Muzem Historii Katowic). Public domain" />GalleryBrexit lessons from the Silesian backstop of 1919-25
Wikimedia CommonsBrexit lessons from the Silesian backstop of 1919-25
The Northern Irish backstop proposal is complex – but it is not unprecedented, writes Thea Don-Siemion (LSE). The Treaty of Versailles established arrangements to prevent a hard border between Germany and Poland in Silesia. It failed, becoming a flashpoint in the relationship between the two countries. Even a permanent backstop is a poorer guarantor of peace in Northern Ireland […]
GalleryIs Brexit the will of the people? The answer is not quite that simple
The Prime Minister, Theresa May, has repeatedly asserted that Brexit is “the will of the British people”, and that the government, therefore, has a duty to “deliver” it. But is Brexit really the will of the British people? Christian List (LSE) takes a critical look at this question.
The Prime Minister assumes that “the will of the people” is to […]
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Permalink European Council via a CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0 licence" />GalleryFrom cautious member to bold leader? The Netherlands and EU after Brexit
European CouncilFrom cautious member to bold leader? The Netherlands and EU after Brexit
Brexit has caused concern in Europe about further defections, but Lisa ten Brinke (Dahrendorf Forum, LSE) argues it has had the opposite effect – at least in the Netherlands.
The causes and consequences of Brexit have been analysed from many angles—from the EU’s internal struggles to the rise of populism and the end of Western hegemony. Less attention has been paid, however, to the position […]
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Permalink European Council via a CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0 licence" />GalleryQuick take: the EU’s irrational position on the Brexit backstop
European CouncilQuick take: the EU’s irrational position on the Brexit backstop
The EU would apparently prefer the UK to fall into no deal rather than compromising on the Northern Ireland backstop, writes Simon Witney (LSE). The stand-off could end if the EU were prepared to accept a second-best alternative.
The European Union’s position in the Brexit negotiations, if one takes it at face value, is self-evidently irrational. It is remarkable that […]
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Permalink Erasmus Student Network via a >a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/esnint/40404688873/in/album-72157679329907708/">CC-BY-NC 2.0 licence" />GalleryThe success of Erasmus+ will be very difficult to replicate
Erasmus Student NetworkThe success of Erasmus+ will be very difficult to replicate
In the general confusion surrounding Britain’s relationship with the EU, the Erasmus+ programme has been a casualty. Anne Corbett (LSE) looks at the programme’s origins in the 1950s and the lessons that Erasmus’s slow journey to fruition have for any ‘Erasmus Lite’ replacement.
As Britain heads for its still unknown Brexit destination, concern about the EU programme Erasmus+ is growing. […]
GalleryBritain’s wartime generation are almost as pro-EU as millennials
There is a significant difference in opinion on Brexit between different age groups in the UK, with older citizens generally exhibiting more negative attitudes toward the EU than younger ones. But as Kieran Devine writes, while over 65s are typically treated as a single category in opinion polls, there are substantial generational differences within this group, with those who […]
GalleryVoting for Brexit has already made the UK poorer
How has voting to leave the EU affected the UK’s economy? The difficulty in answering this question is that we do not know what would have happened to the economy if Remain had won. Consequently, researchers look for ways to estimate what would have happened. For example, how would the UK’s economic output have changed since June 2016 if […]
GalleryIndicative votes in the House of Commons: no substantive consensus but some meta-consensus
The results of the indicative votes held in the House of Commons on 27 March were greeted with a mixture of disappointment and ridicule. While the lack of a majority for all of the eight options under consideration shows that Parliament is deeply divided about the substantial decisions regarding the future course of the Brexit process, there is a […]
GalleryA Brexit Assembly offers a way of overcoming the current deadlock
Brexit needs its own dedicated assembly, a Brexit Assembly, argues Hjalte Lokdam (LSE). The Brexit process has revealed the difficulty of addressing a question of such extraordinary constitutional and societal significance within the ordinary Parliamentary process. A Brexit Assembly of extraordinary representatives dedicated only to Brexit offers a way of overcoming the current deadlock.
As events over the last weeks and months […]
