Pulling up the Drawbridge: From Vote Leave to the Brexit White Paper

Abstract: On 23th June 2016 the United Kingdom held a referendum on whether or not to leave the European Union. The results were 52% to 48% in favour of leaving. This was accomplished by Vote Leave, the designated campaign group in favour of leaving the European Union, convincing enough citizens to vote in their favour. This thesis examines how much of the Leave campaign’s rhetoric has permeated the White Paper with regards to immigration which Prime Minister Theresa May has published as the basis of the Brexit negotiations. This has been done through the use of critical discourse analysis. The theory of Border Politics and David Harvey’s matrix of time and space are utilised to gain a deeper understanding of the different strategies Vote Leave used to convince the British people to vote in favour of leaving. Due to this being such a historically defining moment in British and European history, and due to the amount of people who will be affected by this, Vote Leave’s rhetoric has not had an overwhelming impact on Theresa May’s White Paper.