Antidotes to Brexit

A core message of the book is that authoritarian populism (Brexit nationalism) is a state of affairs where emotions are orchestrated by an increasingly demagogic subsection of the elite to polarise, mobilise and demonise, a reactive, illiberal and antagonist form of politics. It presents a threat in that although perhaps it has manifested itself in one of its most extreme forms in Britain through Brexit, it is in fact an endemic threat to all of Europe. In January 2019 a group of thirty lead European thinkers, writers, historians and nobel laureates, declared that Europe as an idea was “coming apart before our eyes” and the consequences would be “calamitous” if the rising tide of populism was not challenged. The final section of the book seeks to identify the panacea to the rise of authoritarian populism and forms of agonism, both in Britain and Europe. Britain’s future relationship with the EU will be a key determiner in Britain’s course as a nation, hence the book advocates Britain’s eventual re-entry into a reformed European Union grounded within the concept of Social Europe and a conception of identity that is inclusive and accommodated in a structural framework that is deliberative and egalitarian. The chapter also seeks to challenge ‘post-truth’ politics through a reformed public sphere and inclusive and bridging speech acts and rhetoric. Finally, the chapter reflects on the value of critical multiculturalism as a mechanism that might dispel monoculturalism and nativism.

Introduction: Paradigm Shift, Reflexivity and Securitization

The chapter sets out the conceptual framework for the book describing Brexit as part of a paradigm shift in Britain’s socio-economic and cultural chemistry. Brexit is a multi-layered and multidimensional phenomenon, at the intersection of many social, political and cultural forces and processes and the book’s introduction seeks to provide the context to these factors by exploring the nature of the economic, social and cultural drivers of Brexit. The introduction also explores the ‘tabloidisation’ of political rhetoric, basically the subtle manipulation of public thought through speech acts on identity and nationhood to further an agenda premised on achieving a new neoliberal order and the consolidation of power by existing economic, cultural and political elites. In this sense the book explores how a fear of risk and sense of anxiety is manipulated through securitisation. The introduction also sets out for the reader a conception of critical thinking and forms of discourse analysis used throughout the book to understand and dissect Brexit.

The Nationalists: Exclusionary and Civic

The chapter explores how forms of nationalism have interacted with Brexit, focusing primarily on the Scottish Nationalists (SNP), UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the Brexit Party. The chapter outlines how the SNP opposed a hard Brexit and UKIP and the Brexit Party militantly agitated for such an outcome. Scottish nationalists believed a hard Brexit would inevitably revive support for independence but sought to avoid a hard Brexit by advocating that Scotland should retain close links or even membership of the EU and campaigned for a more cosmopolitan and egalitarian vision of the future through a form of civic nationalism. In contrast UKIP and the Brexit Party through forms of exclusionary nationalism advocated for a Britain free from the restraints of EU regulation and free to limit migration. A vision for the future that some would argue is nativist and monocultural. Key personalities in the discussion include Nicola Sturgeon and Nigel Farage

The Road to Brexit

The chapter follows the course of events and debate during the referendum and initial negotiations and legislative attempts in Westminster to enable Brexit. The chapter gives an overview of the speech acts and associated stratagems to facilitate or to frustrate Brexit. It includes a number of vignettes presenting some key or insightful moments in the referendum campaign. A key focus of the chapter is analysis of the Leave and Remain campaigns (Vote Leave, Leave.EU and Stronger In) and what became known respectively as ‘projects hate and fear’. The chapter concludes with an inquest into the state of British democracy and how fundamental weaknesses in the body politic enabled Brexit, among which is the emergence of ’post-truth’ politics and the influence of the tabloid media.

Brexit: Views from Europe

This chapter describes the views of European policy actors, where Brexiteers’ notions of reclaiming national power and self-interest were often pitted against and contrasted with the ethical and idealistic sentiments of those who wanted to preserve the European project and or those committed to the maintenance of a technocratic status quo. These debates and discussions took place within and were shaped by a profound paradigm shift provoked by an economic and cultural crisis in which competing philosophies were set against each other. Cosmopolitanism versus nationalism presented one clash of paradigms – a discourse in which international cooperation, integration and cultural diversity are juxtaposed against narrow national self-interests and monocultural and reactive forms of identity, creating frames (interpretations and perspectives) that can mobilise and galvanise populations and political elites. Alongside identity discourse there was a socio-economic cleavage which revolved around the tensions between neoliberalism and conceptions of the state centred on statism and welfare where social justice rather than profit was the central governing force. Both discourses were accentuated and inflamed by the financial crisis of 2008 and a populist backlash against globalisation, with some propounding a theory of ‘European disintegration’ leading to the unravelling of the democratic capitalist compact within which European integration has been so firmly entwined through the European project. The chapter gives some insight into how the EU sought to protect the integrity of the single market and customs union and perceived Brexit as a direct challenge to the European social model

Politics in Focus: The Conservatives

The chapter outlines and critiques various factions within the Conservative Party and the stresses, strains and opportunities that Brexit presented to them. The chapter reflects upon the demise of One Nationism a more liberal and pro-European form of Conservatism and contrasts it with the Eurosceptic ‘Brexiteers’ within the party some closely aligned with hyperglobalism, a more militant form of neoliberalism, that constitutes an attempt by core countries like the USA and Britain to re-orientate their economic models in order to maintain an advantage over old and emerging competitors and retain their hegemony. Key personalities involved in the discussion are: Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Dominic Grieve and Ken Clarke among others. The chapter considers whether the Conservatives have transformed into a radical right form of populism.

Boris Johnson: Getting Brexit Done?

This chapter provides an overview of the premiership of Boris Johnson between July and December 2019, detailing the progress of Brexit negotiations and the General Election – events that shaped the final trajectory of Brexit but also in all probability the course of Britain’s future for the coming decades. The events described are thus literally nation defining. Brexit from its inception in 2016 had brought to society and politics extreme convulsions, drama and chaos and those characteristics were especially evident in the Johnson premiership, prior to the election. The former Prime Minister David Cameron was moved to describe some of the antics as “sharp practice”. Such traits were compounded by the fact that under the Johnson premiership Brexit resembled a game theory stratagem. Game theory is where individual agents or institutions are assumed to interact strategically and is a concept used in the chapter to try and decipher the machinations and tactics of a radicalised section of the political class through the application of the chicken game, madman theory and the opposition through Mexican standoff.

Brexit Nationalism: History, Crisis and Identity

This chapter sets out the historical, social and cultural context to Brexit by exploring Britain’s relationship with Europe and place in the world, the impact of the financial crisis and how anxiety has come to the fore of political debate as a shaper of policy and identity. A large section of this chapter is historical, this is important to enable the reader to understand the Brexit phenomenon for where we are, depends on where we have been (path dependency) and facilitates a discourse historical approach to the analysis of speech acts which proceeds this chapter. In describing historical, political and cultural developments the chapter highlights a series of argumentative strategies and rhetorical devices which help describe the argumentative positions taken up by a range of actors in different milieu. Important in the discussion is the concept of British exceptionalism and a perception of collective national identity that nurtured Brexit nationalism.

Politics in Focus: Labour

The chapter gives an overview of the strategy of Labour in response to Brexit by detailing the words and action of key Labour figues in the wake of the referendum. Labour’s response to Brexit and course of developments between 2016 and 2019 is a story, as with the Conservative Party, of paradigm change, tension and struggle between the different strands and traditions of a party in a state of flux. The chapter sets out a typology: The Lexiteers – radical socialists who saw Brexit as part of the socialist transformation of Britain but included centrists who felt Britain must exit a federalist project and respect the referendum result. In contrast Labour Europhiles wished to retain close links with Europe or even retain full membership and were broadly drawn from the centrist strands of the party. A third strand were the Radical Left Europhiles who generally supported Corbyn the Labour leader but included soft left factions, they favoured remaining in the EU and working for radical reform in Europe. A policy of ambiguity was employed to maintain unity between these diverging groups. Jeremy Corbyn, Keir Starmer and Tony Blair are among the personalities that feature in the discussion.