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How does a loss of trust affect international negotiations? We know that trust enables cooperation and comes with the risk of betrayal. Yet the effects of lost trust are not well understood, with most research in International Relations (IR) focusing on how trust is initially built in adversarial relations. In this article, we conceptualize trust as the eclipsing of possible futures in which others do not behave cooperatively. When trust is lost, actors include further possibilities of non-cooperative behavior in their calculations and adjust their negotiating demands accordingly. We use this framework to explain the European Commission's response to Boris Johnson's government breaking its trust during the Brexit negotiations by deviating from the Political Declaration, introducing the Internal Market Bill, and not conducting border checks in the Irish Sea. Drawing on elite interviews, we trace how the Commission altered its expectations and consequently sought negotiated outcomes with tighter contracting, reduced discretion and retaliatory mechanisms. Analysing the interplay of trust and calculation on a granular level, we show that breaches of trust do not preclude future cooperation per se, but shape its form and extent in important ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the Brexit campaign and subsequent rise of Boris Johnson to Prime Minister has seen campaigns and assumptions (such as anti-immigration and anti-multiculturalism) that were previously associated with far-right groups and parties enter the mainstream political discourse. It suggests that this has been due to an organic crisis that has been prevalent within British political civil society since the Brexit vote. A crisis that has seen socialist, free market and popular nationalist projects all stake claims to develop competing visions of post-Brexit Britain and which has been intensified by the success of Celtic nationalism. This article will suggest that Boris Johnson's government is attempting to co-opt such right-wing forces by engaging with much of its rhetoric as he attempts to construct his own post-Brexit reality – a reality that is fraught with inconsistencies and contradictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores Boris Johnson's political communication style by analyzing his use of language and its populistic elements. The aim is to shed light on his linguistic construction of reality by examining the statements he made in a Brexit-related context. Therefore, qualitative discourse analysis was chosen as the most suitable method and 100 statements were generated by the Google search engine from multifarious sources. This included the systematization of several categories of used rhetorical figures, phrases, slogans, and word types. The paper discovered specific patterns in named language categories depending on which elements of populistic communication Johnson is practicing. For example, this is reflected in rhetorical questions when he is talking about "dangerous others", the repetition of words such as "fantastic" and "great" and associating them with nouns like "country" and "people" in the sense of national unity, or an evident "us-them" division displayed while referring to Britain's uncertain future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the extent of anti‐French rhetoric in Conservative parliamentary discourse since 2016. It argues that up to the end of Liz Truss's extremely brief period of power, a fair number of Conservative MPs embarked on an escalation of tabloid‐like anti‐French bashing after the election of Boris Johnson, in an attempt to mimic the dramaturgy staged by their leader, while those who tried to provide a more positive discourse were left crying in the wilderness. Moreover, positive attempts to renew the relationship essentially came from MPs who had specific interests to defend, either in terms of representation of French residents in their constituencies or out of loyalty to family connections. Post‐Johnson, a more realistic and sensible discourse is anticipated, but damaging traces of this populist drift are likely to continue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order for Brexit to be reversed, at least three main conditions need to be met. First the British public need to be overwhelmingly in favour of rejoining the European Union. Secondly, we need a United Kingdom government which is actively and seeking to negotiate re-entry to the European Union. Third we need the rest of the European Union to be prepared to readmit the United Kingdom to the club. Each of these can be achieved. It is just a question of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One component in the vote to leave the European Union was a nostalgic image of Empire and the assertion by Brexiteers like Boris Johnson that after Britain had left the EU new trade links would be made with countries who were members of the Commonwealth, countries that Britain had previously governed as colonies. The foundation for this idea was the understanding that Britain's governing of its colonies had been benign and, indeed, that British control had brought with it the benefits of civilisation. This view of the British empire was pervasive in the UK. This article focuses on the sitcom As Time Goes By in which the male protagonist, Lionel, is writing a book about his time in Kenya in the 1950s and 1960s. Everybody who reads the ms considers it boring. Yet Kenya during those decades was subject to a grass-roots uprising against the British colonists known as Mau Mau and Kenya was granted independence in 1963 by which time large numbers of white settlers had left the country. The portrayal of Lionel's book as boring elides this history and reinforces the perception that British colonialism was well received by the indigenous population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the 2007-8 financial crisis, movements - and later parties - which brought 'the people' to the forefront began to dominate the European political scene. These mobilisations brought electoral success for left parties, translating the energies of the movements to the electoral level. Although many people saw Corbynism as a similar political phenomenon, in the UK it was the Brexit campaign that was most successful in constructing a mass popular subjectivity. This article discusses the failure of the anti-austerity mobilisations in Britain to create a transversal popular subjectivity, as happened in Spain and Greece; and it looks at Corbynism within the context of the popular left moment after 2007-8. In particular, it argues that, although the party under Corbyn's leadership did try to absorb the anti-austerity energy, and ultimately to present it in a manifesto that could bring electoral victory, it did not succeed in this attempt. This was partly because the British anti-austerity movements had not had the same social extent as the movements of the squares in Greece and Spain; partly because the Labour Party has very rarely seen itself, or behaved as, a populist party; and partly because Corbynism did not manage to deal with the challenge of Brexit. But there are also factors outside of the control of the leadership of the party, including the interplay between Corbynism and the Conservatives; the relationship between Corbynism and Momentum; and the nature of the discourses in circulation during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares two seminal speeches given by Boris Johnson in the context of Brexit. The first is from 2018 during his tenure as Foreign Secretary, and the second from 2020, by which time he had become Prime Minister. The transcripts of the two complete speeches together constitute a corpus of 7,270 words. The current study applies Hunston's (2000, 2008, 2011) model of evaluation as a means of testing Johnson's attitude towards the propositions he develops through his political oratory. Using the concepts of evaluation of status and value, this model allows us to identify Johnson's degree of alignment with his representation of the world, and to perceive an ideological component in his choices here. It is hypothesized that the changes which took place in the political landscape in the time that separated the two speeches, a period of two years in which Johnson became Prime Minister and Britain left the European Union, may have had an effect on his use of evaluative language. The study reveals statistically significant findings. Johnson is found to have changed from contributing primarily world-creating propositional content in his 2018 speech to a more significant use of world-reflecting statements in his 2020 speech, and to rely in both speeches most importantly on himself as the source of information. The study also reveals a reluctance to display any hypothetical speech behaviour, and a strong preference for truth driven statements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why has the Conservative Party been such a successful political party? One of the reasons lies in the ability of its leaders to understand and navigate the pressure of the politics of power and the politics of support, adjusting to changing circumstances and being focussed on what is needed in order to gain and hold power in the particular circumstances of the British political system. Since the publication of The Conservative Nation in 1974 the party has reinvented itself twice, first under Thatcher and now under Johnson. The character of the remaking under Johnson is analysed together with some of the problems for pursuing a successful post‐Brexit statecraft, particularly delivering the 'levelling‐up' agenda and the 'global Britain' agenda in ways which will consolidate rather than fragment the new Conservative coalition, and preserve the Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the EU referendum Leavers and Remainers have increasingly used occult metaphors to attack each other, as they decry the UK's drift into 'uncharted waters' or descent into 'tribalism'. How might gender and race shape this current crisis of British identity? In 2017 Rita Duffy created Soften the Border, an installation of hand-knitted votive dolls on the Northern Irish-Irish border. In 2018 Project O exhibited Saved at London's Somerset House, a video depicting women of colour performing magical rituals in a post-apocalyptic watery wasteland. What might these artworks tell us about the ways in which magic has long been weaponised by patriarchal white supremacy, as well as the ways in which the supernatural has also been used as a form of political resistance? Soften the Border and Saved offer an image of a UK no longer ruling the waves, unable to 'take back control' and haunted by ghosts of empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parliamentary scrutiny assumes a dual willingness—a willingness of government to be scrutinised and a willingness of Parliament to scrutinise, alongside a singular capacity: the ability of Parliament to scrutinise. In the official Westminster view of scrutiny these principles and practicalities are aligned and serve to illuminate the processes and actions of government. There is, however, also a 'dark side': where the principles and practicalities of scrutiny are not aligned. While an aversion to parliamentary scrutiny has been hard‐wired into the 'executive mentality', the 'ministerial mindset', and the 'instincts of secrecy' shared by all contemporary UK governments, an examination of the first eighteen months of Boris Johnson's premiership—in the exceptionally turbulent times of 'getting Brexit done' and 'beating coronavirus'—reveals a distinct propensity of his Conservative government to walk on the dark side of parliamentary scrutiny in this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thinking back, it could be argued that Britain was preparing to leave the European Union almost as soon as it joined in 1973. Within two years, opposition to membership led Prime Minister Harold Wilson to call a referendum. The public voted overwhelmingly to stay. But the honeymoon was short-lived. For Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Brexit was all about getting sovereignty back. The United Kingdom would take back control of its money, borders, laws and waters. But as the detail of the recent treaty is examined, his claims may turn out to be as vacuous as Chamberlain's 'peace in our time' proclamations. Cracks are already appearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the impact of the COVID-19 crisis in the United Kingdom. COVID-19 is a health issue but one that would have significant economic and constitutional implications for the UK. Moreover, the asymmetric responses across the UK put pressure on the very fabric of the country, as the four nations – Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland – pursued differing policies in response to COVID-19 and within England certain regions perceived themselves to have been treated unfairly. All of these issues reinforced and magnified the implications of the issue that had overshadowed British politics for years: Brexit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the role of tried and trusted forms of municipalism in new municipal alliances. Topics discussed include constituencies of Boris Johnson's pro-Brexit right-wing populist narrative of taking back control; growing alienation and working class from the social-democratic establishment; and municipalism committed to decentralisation and local autonomy from centralised government.

This article examines the process of extinction of former remainer Conservative MPs who followed different paths in the run‐up to the 2019 general election: either choosing to stay loyal and merge with the rest of the parliamentary party, or to express their discontent and leave the party. When they chose to rebel against the leadership, only a small minority dared to vindicate their position. The other rebels constantly played down their identity as remainers and justified their views in an apologetic way. More remarkably, they were treated differently by Boris Johnson, who eventually suspended the last remainers and called for a general election to renew the composition of the party. The consequences of this last move are crucial in order to understand the radical transformation of the Conservative Party into the actual (and only) 'party of Brexit'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information related to the impact of brexit on researchers. Topics discussed include Parliament passed a law effectively requiring Great Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson to seek an extension until 31 January 2020; European Union (EU) leaders grant the delay to give the Great Britain the time to approve a deal that would smooth the divorce; and concerns of EU economists and government on civil unrest.

The chances are growing that an unexpected consequence of the 2016 UK referendum to exit the European Union (or "Brexit") may eventuate in the unexpected development of Northern Ireland exiting the UK, or what might be termed "NIRexit." In other words, Brexit may lead to Irish unification. The long-cherished dream of Irish nationalists for "a united Ireland" may therefore be the inadvertent consequence of the campaign to withdraw from the EU by the Brexiteers. Both demographics and economics are pushing Dublin and Belfast ever closer together. The increasing likelihood is that the attractions of remaining in the EU will be more important to Northern Irish citizens than age-old anxieties about joining the traditionally Catholic dominated Irish Republic. "Potatoes, not popes" may weigh more heavily than historical divisions between the Catholic south and the Irish north, especially because the Irish Republic is no longer dominated by the Catholic Church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Britain prepares to leave the European Union after the popular vote of June 2016, the government is embarking on the revision of foreign policy. Boris Johnson, or ‘just Boris’, has been entrusted with forging the new ‘Global Britain’ for the post-Brexit era and reinventing British economy around new relationships. Boris has a track record of misrepresenting and offending foreign peoples, leaders and countries. This article assesses the prospects for Africa in Johnson’s vision for ‘Global Britain’ as presented in his foreign policy speeches. The paper unpacks Johnson’s discursive construction of ‘Africa’ and inserts it into a broader historical and political context of British relations with Africa. It argues that, by constructing Africa as a ‘problem’ and offering liberal values as a condition for development, Johnson is continuing British imperial and post-colonial discourses of ‘developing’ or ‘civilizing’ Africa. In the post-Brexit world of a changing global balance of power, democratic conditionality serves to sustain and reproduce British forms of power and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]