Tag: referendum
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Scotland’s No to Brexit – the End of the United Kingdom?
All was relatively calm in Scotland during the EU referendum campaign. So shortly after the Scottish election, most of the political funding was spent; many students and activists felt they had done enough for the year. Of course, there was a Remain and Leave presence on the streets and the Scottish Greens had a distinct…
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It’s Only Over When It’s Over
When the British government announced that 52 percent of the population had voted to leave the European Union, this seemed to be a final decision. Right-wing populists from Marine le Pen in France to Geert Wilders in the Netherlands euphorically congratulated the Leave voters and already demanded their own national referendums. Global stock markets lost…
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Britain Has Voted Out, and Europa Is Weeping
This is the feeling of the axis of history tilting: not a smooth, mechanical turn, but the ground shifting and trembling beneath your feet. What even yesterday seemed so solid is now running through your fingers like silt. The possibilities that gave you hope have vanished behind a cloud, and now there is only a…
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Brexit or Bremain, the British Culture War Is Just Getting Going
Yes, thank God – it’s nearly over. In a fortnight’s time, the British public will finally decide at the ballot box whether or not to remain part of the European Union, bringing to a close several months of agonisingly irrelevant campaigning. There were those of us who hoped this referendum campaign would stimulate something of…
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A Pivotal Weekend in Britain’s EU Referendum Campaign?
President Barack Obama’s intervention in Britain’s EU referendum campaign on Friday 22th April undoubtedly marked the most significant moment in the battle over Britain’s EU membership to date. Obama, who is wildly popular in the UK (around nine months ago, Pew Research Center estimated he had an approval rating of 76% in Britain), announced during…
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Brexit or BrexIn: Britain Decides its European Fate
Following the conclusion of David Cameron’s EU ‘renegotiation’ deal at the EU summit in Brussels on February 19, he announced a day later that the referendum is to be held on June 23 – marking the effective beginning of the campaign which will settle the ‘Brexit’ question. We have been here before. In 1975, Britain…