Sovereignty, Brexit, and Dunkirk: Winston Churchill's "Fight Them on the Beaches" Speech as Nationalist Memory

Abstract

n Christmas Eve of 2020, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised Britain’s exit from the European Union (“Brexit”) in a speech to his country: “We have taken back control of laws and our destiny. We have taken control of every jot and tittle of our regulation in a way that is complete and unfettered” (Hughes, 2020). Yet not every United Kingdom citizen shared his enthusiasm. Over 300 public figures “wrote open letters ahead of the 2016 referendum urging a Remain vote” (Hughes). Even the two remaining Beatles were split, with Paul McCartney resistant to Brexit and Ringo Starr in support of it (Fox & Radosavljevic, 2020). Further, public responses to the controversial but successful decision to secede was also evenly split according to results from the Brexit Referendum committee, with similar results from national polls in England. Northern Ireland and Scotland had higher votes of resistance from their populations, which deepened the controversy (BBC News, n.d.).