Legitimising Euroscepticism? The construction, delivery and significance of the Bruges speech

This paper reassesses the construction, delivery and significance of the Bruges speech by Margaret Thatcher in 1988. Widely seen as a critical moment in the shift towards the legitimising of Euroscepticism, this paper exploits newly released archival material to analyse the internal dialogue between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and her advisors as they constructed the speech. The paper then analyses how the speech was delivered and argues that it represents a classic example of what is known as epideictic or display rhetoric. This involves constructing a rhetorical choice between the Delors vision of a future Europe based on further intervention, integration and interdependence, and her alternative vision of a market based and deregulated Europe, based on preserving national independence and defending British national sovereignty. By reassessing the construction and delivery of the Bruges speech in this way, we can consider the significance of the speech by assessing the reactions that it provoked. Through this process we identify how and why an essentially anti-federalist speech became viewed as an anti-European speech.