Brexit and British exceptionalism: the impossible challenge for Remainers

Since 2016, a number of high profile ‘Revocateurs’, among them Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell and Andrew Adonis, had appealed for a fresh referendum on the EU in Britain.

Leaving aside the complex practicalities and politics of the ‘neverendum’ idea, Oliver Daddow (University of Nottingham) argued there was no evidence either that Revocateurs were the victims in Act One of the ‘Britain and Europe’ story, or that they possessed the credibility to play the heroes of Act Two. Revocateurs needed to have more regard for history as it happened, not as they chose to rewrite it now.

• Primary Source

The Washington Post, 31.03.17: Brexit and Britain’s delusions of empire https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/31/brexit-and-britains-delusions-of-empire/

Politics Means Politics: Blog, 14.07.17: Brexit won’t purge the UK from its exceptionalism and hubris https://blog.politicsmeanspolitics.com/brexit-wont-purge-the-uk-from-its-exceptionalism-and-hubris-b1254bfa435b

ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/

Centre for European Reform: Insight May 2017: The British and their Exceptionalism http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-british-and-their-exceptionalism/

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