The UK has received support from the European Investment Bank for a variety of infrastructure projects. However, as Micaela Mihov explains, the loss of this support following Brexit may have a negative impact on the country’s public infrastructure. She argues that one of the best options to mitigate the impact would be the establishment of a UK infrastructure bank.
Since […]
In an ‘epistocracy’, only some people would be allowed to vote. Those who advocate this system have cited Brexit and Trump’s election as evidence that the franchise should be restricted to those who have sufficient ‘political knowledge’ to use it. Linsey McGoey explains why, contrary to their claims, John Stuart Mill would not have endorsed this dangerous form of […]
What impact will Brexit have on the decision-making processes and outputs of the European Union? Drawing on a new study, Narisong Huhe, Daniel Naurin and Robert Thomson assess the effect of Brexit on the Council of the EU. Their findings indicate that some member states face particular political challenges, and that Brexit is likely to tilt EU policies towards […]
In the 2016 EU referendum, 62% of Scottish voters backed Remain, but do the experiences of EU families living in Scotland differ from those living elsewhere in the UK? Drawing on new research, Marie Godin and Nando Sigona find evidence that despite Brexit uncertainty, EU families living in Scotland feel they belong to the national community to a greater […]
If the UK fails to secure a Brexit deal with the EU by the end of this month, then it is obliged under the so-called Benn Act to request an extension to the process. But what if the government manages to bypass the Benn Act and take the country out of the EU without a deal? Robert Basedow explains that […]
In a new book, David Cameron details his time as UK Prime Minister and his reaction to losing the country’s referendum on EU membership. George Kassimeris writes that future historians are unlikely to be any kinder to Cameron than today’s political commentators, and his unwillingness to offer an apology for the turbulence that followed the referendum will do little […]
Some members of the UK government have hinted that the country may unilaterally refrain from introducing controls at the border with the Republic of Ireland in the case of a hard Brexit. Robert Basedow explains that if this were to occur, it would constitute a serious challenge for the EU and its single market. Customs authorities on the continent […]
Since the EU referendum, the narrative of an inter-generational divide has emerged, with the country’s older pro-Leave generation thought to be at odds with a younger, pro-Remain generation. Rakib Ehsan investigated these intra-generational differences and suggests that failure to deliver Brexit may provide a boost for far-right organisations, but that a disruptive no-deal Brexit has the potential to inject considerable […]
Joanne Meredith and Emma Richardson examine how the terms Brexiter and Remainer were used by online commenters during and after the UK’s EU referendum. They find that the two are seen as political categories in their own right, with other, well-defined political identities resisted when used.
Commentary around Brexit highlighted political and social divisions in the United Kingdom in the […]
David Judge writes that, while much of the discussion around Brexit and Parliament is about procedure and conventions, it should also be about the bigger picture: what does Brexit tell us about the fundamental principles of the UK’s parliamentary state and representative democracy?
Politicians and the punditocracy have become consumed with the minutiae of parliamentary procedure and constitutional conventions – […]
While much attention has focused on when or if Britain’s new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will succeed in taking the UK out of the EU, the longer-term agenda of a Johnson-led Conservative administration has been pushed into the background. This is unfortunate. Johnson’s dream, should his premiership survive, is of a post-Brexit Britain akin to a European ‘Singapore of […]
Brexit provides an opportunity to agree new Economic Partnership Agreements with the world’s largest economies such as the US, China, and India. These cannot make up for the trade it will lose through leaving the Single Market, according to Swati Dhingra and Josh De Lyon. Nevertheless, the UK has an opportunity to forge a new generation of trade deals that […]
In Stretching the Constitution: The Brexit Shock in Historic Perspective, Andrew Blick situates Brexit within the wider context of UK constitutional reform debates over the course of the past century. Blick’s unconventional approach to this topic is insightful, providing instructive historical context to contemporary discussions of Brexit that will be of particular value for scholars of constitutional affairs, writes Gary Wilson.
Stretching the Constitution: […]
Angélica Szucko discusses the EU White Paper on the future of the union and analyses the institutional response to the Brexit vote. The EU has to tackle future challenges in a more flexible way than before and acknowledge that the integration model needs to be revisited.
The UK’s decision to leave the European Union – alongside the recent crises on the continent […]
The economic consequences of the UK leaving the European Union without a deal have received significant attention, but a no-deal Brexit would also have important security implications. Helena Farrand Carrapico, Jocelyn Mawdsley and Richard G. Whitman explain what leaving the EU without a deal might mean for the UK’s internal and external security, as well as the country’s future […]
To the surprise of many, Northern Ireland, through the DUP, has been the silent majority shareholder in the Brexit negotiations to date. This influence is remarkable because, in practice, Northern Ireland has no direct role in the negotiations. In this blog, Sylvia de Mars describes the rise and fall of Northern Ireland’s importance in Brexit negotiations.
The Article 50 TEU process […]
In Tales of Brexits Past and Present: Understanding the Choices, Threats and Opportunities in Our Separation from the EU, Nigel Culkin and Richard Simmons draw upon three purported historic examples of previous ‘Brexits’ in which Britain retreated from its relationship with the European continent to consider the challenges and opportunities of Brexit in economic and entrepreneurial terms. Gary Wilson welcomes this novel contribution to the growing […]
If the UK is to use Brexit as an opportunity to negotiate new trade agreements with other states outside of Europe, then Australia arguably represents one of the best examples of a future partner. Yet the Brexit referendum also coincided with renewed attempts to develop closer trade relations between the EU and Australia. Laura Allison-Reumann, Margherita Matera and Philomena […]
The European Parliament was initially viewed as having a fairly limited part to play in the Brexit negotiations. However, as Carlos Closa writes, the Parliament has effectively crafted a central role for itself in the process. This has been achieved by combining the unconcealed brandishing of its veto threat with the promotion of strong internal unity and supporting the […]
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Britain’s Europe and the end of Empire
Britain’s Europe and the end of Empire
Britain’s relationship with Europe has a complex history, of which Brexit is merely the latest development. Simon Glendinning explains that the country’s post-War understanding of both itself and of Europe has often been caught up in a (selective) history and memory of British and European discovery, colonialism and Empire. The hope that the UK might find a new post-Empire […]