Euroscepticism after Brexit
| DOI | 10.1177/2041905820933373 |
| Published date | 01 June 2020 |
| Author | Simon Usherwood |
| Date | 01 June 2020 |
30 POLITICAL INSIGHT • JUNE 2020
On January 31, 2020 the UK
withdrew from the European
Union. Prime Minister Boris
Johnson extolled Britain’s
‘power of independent thought and
action’. After years of rancorous debate, the
running sore of UK-EU relations was put
to bed for good. We can all move on from
Brexit. Or can we?
Brexit has happened, but Europe will
remain a major issue in British politics,
not just now but also for the longer-
term future. In this article, I want to try
to map out the historical trajectory of
Euroscepticism, both as a concept in of
itself and as a marker of wider currents.
The existence and the persistence of a
European ‘other’ to the British ‘us’ means
that Euroscepticism is now entering its
third major era since the Second World War
and will continue to have significant effects
on both rhetoric and policy in the UK.
Euroscepticism
after Brexit
Britain has finally left the European Union, but, as Simon Usherwood
argues, Europe – and Euroscepticism – will remain a major faultline in
British politics for many years to come.
Understanding Euroscepticism
Brexit was a product of Euroscepticism.
Britons would not have voted to leave
the EU without groups and individuals
expressing opposition or criticism to all
or parts of the EU and its functioning.
However, those groups and individuals did
not form a coherent mass, as can be seen at
a number of different analytical levels.
Most basically, ‘Eurosceptics’ come
from across the ideological spectrum, left
and right, authoritarian and libertarian.
Indeed, there is no ideology that expresses
unreserved support for European integration
in principle, let alone the European Union
in practice. This should not surprise, given
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