Table of Contents
List of figures, tables and boxes viii
Abbreviations x
About the author xii
Acknowledgements xiii
1 Studying Brexit 1
Introduction 1
Why Brexit matters 3
How to study Brexit 5
Key questions 11
Books on Brexit 12
2 The history of UK-EU relations 15
Introduction 15
Why the EU was founded 15
What the EU does 20
Why the UK joined and joined late 29
The two-faced European 37
An awkward partner 38
A quiet European 44
Conclusion 48
Further readings 49
3 The renegotiation and referendum campaign 51
Introduction 51
Why David Cameron committed to a referendum 52
The UK-EU renegotiation 58
The referendum campaign 63
Further readings 70
4 The referendum result 73
Introduction 73
How Britain voted 73
Why Britain voted Leave 85
What happened next 95
Further readings 97
5 Britain after the referendum 99
Introduction 99
The Brexit narrative 100
HM Government and Brexit 103
Parliament, the judiciary and Brexit 108
Party politics and Brexit 113
The Union and Brexit 116
British society and Brexit 121
The British economy and Brexit 125
Further readings 131
6 Europe and Brexit 133
Introduction 133
Phase 1: exit negotiations 134
Phase 2: Brexit transition 148
Phase 3: a new relationship 151
Views from the remaining EU 161
Adjusting the EU 167
The EU in Europe 171
EU daily business 172
Conclusion 173
Further readings 174
7 Brexit, Britain, Europe and the world 177
Introduction 177
Britain in a multipolar world 178
UK-EU cooperation in the world 187
The EU in a multipolar world 194
Further readings 199
Conclusion 201
Causes 201
Consequences 205
Meaning 209
The Brexicon glossary 215
Timelines of UK-EU relations and Brexit 221
Bibliography 227
Index 241
