RUSSIA IN THE DISCOURSE OF BREXETEERS AND BREMAINERS IN THE UK

Abstract

The UK EU membership referendum (2016) brought a confused result not giving the Brexiteers or the Bremainers decisive preponderance. This led to sharp divisions in the society at large, and a prolonged political crisis in Britain. Bremainers as early as at the stage of the pre-referendum campaign accused Brexiteers of being under the influence of Russia, meddling on the part of Brexit. The Bremainers initiated a series of inquiries into Russian interference to discredit the Brexiteers, putting under question the results of the referendum and the mandate of the UK government to conduct negotiations with Brussels. This confrontation went through lines of interparty divisions, and its methods went beyond the traditions and unwritten rules of the United Kingdom's political culture. The vicissitudes of inter- and intra-party infighting around the Parliamentary Intelligence and Defence Committee's report “Russia” showed that the government feared the report would influence voters in the run-up to the 2019 early general election. The investigation found no evidence of Russian interference in the referendum, nor in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum or the 2017 and 2019 parliamentary elections. Nevertheless, the “Russia” report became the basis for mutual accusations of the parties in the 2019 election campaign. London's focus on the concept of "Global Britain" indicates that the United Kingdom, regardless of the outcome of negotiations with the EU, views Russia as a strategic adversary.