Eurooptimism and Euroscepticism on the Example of the British Labour Party, Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party

Abstract

In this article, the three British parties in terms of their attitudes towards the EU are analysed. British parties are not homogenous with no single position on Europe being dominant. Nevertheless, there has been a rise of Euroscepticism across all political parties regardless of their affiliation in the recent years. Brexit referendum has become a ‘point of no return’ since no political force in Britain has questioned British exit from the EU and its results. The debate has switched to the conditions on which the post-Brexit UK collaborates with the EU but there is no discussion whether Britain needs to return to the EU. It is a question of whether British interests have been taken into account and how close the relationship with the Europeans should be. The research reflects gradual evolution of the three British parties (Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the Scottish National Party) and their attitudes towards European integration. It is shown that the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats had a U-turn on key policies such as free movement of people or joining the Eurozone whereas the Scottish National Party reinvented itself and became a proponent of the European integration (with some reservations). The author tries to answer the question of whether the above parties could have prevented Brexit.