“That’s it, we’re out,” said Jonn Elledge shortly after midnight when they announced the result from Wolverhampton.
It’s been a fascinating period. Last week, a couple of days before the vote, I wrote a column for Reuters pondering what it would take to restore the divisions in the country after the vote. The morning off the result, I suggested what should happen next. Within barely 48 hours, things in the country was so confused that I was writing something rather different.
Things are still, it is fair to say, uncertain.
Unfortunately, it’s a apparently a myth that the Chinese characters for crisis and opportunity are the same – they are not. Still, PS21 is aiming to take advantage of the situation ruthlessly anyhow with a series of discussions over the next few weeks and months. We will be looking at Britain’s place in the world post- referendum, the defense of Europe as well as much broader topics such as the nature of the nationstate in the 21st century and what kind of immigration policy might actually work.
See the first of those below. Other exciting stuff going on that I look forward to filling you in on in due course.
All best,
Peter
Upcoming Events
British politics after the Brexit vote
Monday, July four, six p.m.,, King’s College London
So, the Brexit vote happened. But that, for now, is about all we can conclusively say. What next for British politics? We look ahead to the final days of David Cameron, the prospects for potential Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the deeply unpredictable future of the Labour Party. More broadly than that, though, what did the vote tell us about a deeply divided nation usually conflicted about where it goes next?
Peter Apps [moderator] – Global Affairs Columnist, Thomson Reuters. Executive Director, PS21
Rob Colville – Author and commentator for Politico Europe, Financial Times
Jennifer Brindisi – Political Consultant. Former Executive Director, Young Professionals in Foreign Policy
Gurjinder Dhaliwal – Labour Party and Remain campaigner
Jonn Eledge – Editor of CityMetric and journalist at New Statesman
Project for the Study of the 21st Century 