Ten undergraduate essay questions on Brexit

When I was becoming interested in history and politics, I learned about gripping, momentous events overseen by grand men (and they were all men at that time): Disraeli’s dishing of the Whigs with the Second Reform Act; Gladstone’s attempt to secure Home Rule; Asquith and Lloyd George’s rival camps of Liberals after the First World War; Baldwin’s capture of the political initiative in 1922; and so on, up to our descent to war in 1939. Relating tawdry modern politics to this, acted out by comparative mediocrities, seemed utterly impossible — the institutions might have been the same, but the grandeur of events in the past had long since rubbed off.

Not so now. We are undoubtedly in a period of remarkable historical significance for our country (however you happen to define that). Suddenly, the magnitude of events seems on a par with those of the past. The actors on the stage still seem relatively mediocre — it’s hard to imagine Joseph Chamberlain scooting back from Glastonbury to confront Gladstone, for instance (not that attendance at Glastonbury is an automatic hallmark of mediocrity, but you see what I mean) — but still, the focus on our constitution and institutional arrangements, with all their history, could hardly be sharper.

Undergraduates will doubtless be writing essays on current events in fifty years’ time. Here are ten questions they might be asked…

1. Was the British public deceived into voting for Brexit?
2. What actions by British politicians were decisive in bringing about the Brexit crisis of 2016?
3. “The worst failure of any British Prime Minister for a century.” — Discuss this view of David Cameron’s role in the Brexit crisis
4. Was the weakness of opposition parties decisive in the Brexit crisis? Discuss with reference to the period 2010 to 2017.
5. Could Scotland have been retained within the United Kingdom after the Brexit referendum? If so, how?
6. “A lot of people suffered, but it was worth it to take our country back.” Discuss this view of the Brexit crisis, with reference to the period 2016 to 2036.
7. Was the Brexit crisis driven by identity issues, economic issues or attitudes to authoritarianism?
8. Does David Cameron’s premiership deserve to be judged favourably on the basis of his achievements prior to the Brexit crisis?
9. Which played the greater role in the collapse of the European Union: the Brexit crisis or the EU’s treatment of Greece?
10. Is it fair to characterise events following the Brexit crisis of 2016 as a revival of fascism in Britain?