Author Archive

Dr Monika Brusenbauch Meislová (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

Dr Monika Brusenbauch Meislová is an associate professor at the Department of International Relations and European Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic and a visiting professor at Aston University in Birmingham, United Kingdom. She is also one of the coordinators of the UACES research network “The Limits of EUrope”. Her research work covers issues of British European policy, Brexit, Czech foreign policy and political discourse. Her most recent research has been published in various journals, including The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Parliamentary Affairs, British Politics, Europe-Asia Studies or The Political Quarterly.

Scotland held a vote on independence on 18 September 2014, with 55 percent of the voters rejecting leaving the United Kingdom. Yet, the issue was thrust back into the spotlight in 2016, when the UK voted to withdraw from the EU, with repeated calls for a second Scottish plebiscite growing louder ever since. As in 2014, the generally accepted (albeit not universal) position has been that Westminster’s approval is needed to put a referendum on Scottish independence beyond legal doubt. The two British Prime Ministers (PMs) who held office during this time (2016–2021), Theresa May and Boris Johnson, consistently reiterated their opposition to another referendum and ruled out granting any such consent. In doing so, they employed various discourse strategies …