Roe-Crines, A and Heppell, T orcid.org/0000-0001-9851-6993 (2020) Legitimising Euroscepticism? The construction, delivery and significance of the Bruges speech. Contemporary British History, 34 (2). pp. 204-227. ISSN 1361-9462
Abstract
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.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Contemporary British History. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, British government 1979–1990, conservative party, Euroscepticism, Bruges speech |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Politics & International Studies (POLIS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 24 Oct 2019 10:26 |
Last Modified: | 04 Apr 2021 00:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/13619462.2019.1669019 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:152547 |