ABSTRACT
In this chapter we consider the conscious and unconscious reasons for calling the Referendum in 2016, which resulted in the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, and the uneasy result that it has brought in terms of splitting, polarisation and political upheaval. The authors argue that current processes within the UK mirror the experiences and anxieties of other European countries and regions: loss of boundary control, for example in relation to migrants; benefitting economically from membership of the EU but experiencing it as an over-controlling bureaucratic body; and above all, ignoring the voices of swathes of citizens who have felt forgotten and abandoned by their government and who represent the widening gap between rich and poor and the loss of trust in government; and finally, that these threats to national identity resulting in a retreat from the EU mirror the populist independence movements seen elsewhere in Europe.
