If you would like to explore the debate around a possible second Scottish independence referendum, IndyRef2, in class, these videos have some useful material. We already featured a Scottish National Party Party Political broadcast from before the 6 May elections in our article. This one was published after the election results. Its message is pretty … Continue reading “Scottish Independence Debate Videos”
After elections to the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish National Party has emerged the leading party for the fourth consecutive election, achieving just one seat short of a majority in an electoral system specifically designed not to produce overall majorities. The party of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had campaigned on the promise of a new independence … Continue reading “Scottish Independence Back on the Agenda”
Britain has a new Prime Minister. After a two-month voting process following Theresa May’s resignation, the Conservative Party announced the name of its new leader on 23 July. On 24 July the Queen invited Boris Johnson to form a government. The new government has just over three months to try to find a solution to … Continue reading “Boris Johnson at Number Ten”
British Prime Minister Theresa May stepped down as leader of the Conservative Party on 9 June, starting the process of electing a new leader, who will take over as Prime Minister. For three years, May has tried to deliver Britain’s exit from the European Union, despite having campaigned for Remain in the Brexit referendum. But … Continue reading “May Leaves”
Voting in the European Parliamentary elections started on 23 May in the Netherlands and the UK — where the elections weren’t supposed to take place at all. One more chapter in the chaos of Brexit. The UK was supposed to leave the EU on 29 March, following the Brexit referendum. However, since the Conservative Government … Continue reading “The Election that wasn’t Supposed to Happen”
Britain’s Conservative government suffered a historic defeat on 15 January as Parliament massively voted against the deal for Brexit negotiated with the EU. As the clock ticks relentlessly towards the 29 March deadline for leaving, there seems no clear way forward. The government had been forced to agree to a “meaningful” vote on Brexit and … Continue reading “Brexit Chaos”
As the Brexit negotiations between Britain and the EU race towards the March 29 deadline, what is the state of play? The two-year negotiation period for Brexit expires on 29 March 2019 and many points still haven’t been settled. Many of the problems with the negotiations come not from the EU-UK discussions but from tensions … Continue reading “Brexit Confusion”
This B1-level article will introduce your students to the British political system. They will most probably have heard about Brexit, but will need to understand why the referendum was decided by David Cameron, how British Prime Ministers come to power and what the exit process involves. We’ve updated this resource to autumn 2018. This would … Continue reading “Brexit”
If you would like to work on Britain’s referendum on leaving Europe, the following article is a good resource. Pupils from A2+ level can understand this concise article from the BBC Newsbeat site (the news programme of their teen radio station Radio 1). At the end, there are a number of Tweets, which are more … Continue reading “Brexit Referendum Webpicks”
Ireland has long been one of the most socially conservative countries in the European Union. But things have been changing and the country’s current Prime Minister is a sign of the times. Since the creation of Irish Free State in 1922, the post of Taoiseach*, Ireland’s equivalent of Prime Minister, has been held by … Continue reading “Changing Ireland”
