The Museum of Brexit

09/04/2024

These islands have a history of grassroots revolts.

We'll consider how Brexit might fit into a peculiarly British pattern.

09/04/2024

Skopje is home to the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle for Sovereignty and Independence.

It explores national identity and culture, conflicts against the Ottomans, and the moves towards independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

09/04/2024

The candidate's approach to the EU was a central, indeed decisive, question in Conservative Party leadership campaigns.

Here's how Ken Clarke's 2001 literature addressed the issue.

09/04/2024

The Maastricht Treaty was a critical juncture. It accelerated European integration, and reawoke massive political splits.

We'll explain what those changes meant, and introduce the key people involved.

09/04/2024

A decade before 2016, there was a push for a referendum on the EU constitution.

It never happened in the UK. But it did elsewhere. And for a moment in May and June 2005 as key No votes came in, Brussels shuddered.

09/04/2024

Australian museums built up collections covering the country's 2023 referendum on voting change.

Brexit was much bigger. It too needs to be recorded and the back story preserved.

What should our museums collect from the sea of information and imagery to represent how Australians feel about the referendum?

09/04/2024

The American Bar Association honoured Magna Carta by building a memorial at Runnymede.

It recognises a common keystone of the Anglophone world that underpins concepts of democracy and sovereignty.

It's why we hope to also add a gallery exploring the Special Relationship.

09/04/2024

On the Luxembourg border, there's a small museum dedicated to the EU's Schengen Agreement.

It "retraces the development from a Europe of borders towards a more unified Europe with a common citizenship".

The story of Brexit also deserves telling.

09/04/2024

Many countries around the world have museums of independence, sovereignty, nationhood and identity.

Norway has Eidsvoll Manor House where the 1814 constitution was drawn up, and is a national symbol.

09/04/2024

The EU debate crossed party and political divides.

From Jacques Delors at the TUC to Bob Crow on the campaign trail, there's a powerful story to be told of the fight for the hearts and minds of the trades union movement.

09/04/2024

European integration is one of the big shaping features of the post war era.

Brexit is its largest political question mark and endorsement of the nation state.

That's why we need a museum and archives.

09/04/2024

Poland has a Museum of Independence. It celebrates Polish identity and the fight for nationhood across the centuries.

Housed in the former Lenin Museum, it receives EU backing.

Our own ambitions don't involve former princely palaces!

09/04/2024

The issue of a referendum and how it would pan out didn't come out of nowhere.

Referendums have a mixed history in the EU.

Here's a booklet from 2014 expressing concern about fair play.

13/03/2024

The Human Rights debate and the Strasbourg Court is an issue largely around the Council of Europe and not the EU. But far from exclusively.

It's also part of the wider issue around sovereignty, accountability, and decision-making.

We'll review the history and controversies.

13/03/2024

The French Government is spending £180 million on a museum/centre for the French language.

Our budget is minuscule in comparison - no château for us.

But our story is important, and as much about national identity as this is.

Critics say the president’s project, in a region where he has struggled to connect with voters, is unlikely to attract an estimated 200,000 visitors a year, and unable to cater for them if they do arrive

13/03/2024

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2257/94 of 16 September 1994 - the 'ban on bendy bananas'.

But was it a "Euromyth", or "Brussels gone mad"?

We'll explore the background of this and other stories like it, along with the impact, and what they reveal of how the EU works.

13/03/2024

Is British democratic history unique and special?

How did it institutionally emerge and develop?

In what ways did campaigners see it as under threat from the EU? Or conversely needing adding at EU level?

We'll introduce the back story to better understand the debate.

13/03/2024

Sir John Redwood MP supports our appeal.

Given the importance of this period in our history, please let us have your memories and memorabilia.

(New video short below)

29/02/2024

We'll cover the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and explain what it meant to farmers, taxpayers and consumers.

Though we can't promise actual wine lakes to surf and butter mountains to climb.

29/02/2024

Political party conferences used to be much less stage managed. Major fringe events in large venues also gave full vent to the mood of the grassroots.

We'll cover the level of disconnect within parties, and what it meant in London.

29/02/2024

In Connecticut, there's a museum of tort law - the 'history of suing'.

It explains key cases in an engaging way.

We can be similarly innovative when explaining Common Law and the impacts of Brussels and Strasbourg.

29/02/2024

The EU holds vast archives. They sit literally on miles of shelving.

The UK debate also deserves a few yards of preserved space, to allow future academics some prospect of balanced research.

29/02/2024

There is a nightclub in Indonesia called Brexit.

(H/T: jakarta100bars)

20/02/2024

Views about "Europe" have differed hugely. Some in turn have changed over time; others remained constant.

We'll explore the various campaigns in a fair and balanced way.

Because that's the best way to understand all the arguments, and appreciate the importance of the topic.

20/02/2024

The Black Cultural Archives in Brixton house a large collection in a £7m building in central London.

Our very much lower fundraising targets can deliver something just as significant, but outside of the metropolis.

20/02/2024

We plan to tell the stories of individuals, and what drove them into becoming a passionate advocate of their side of the debate

Here are some reminiscences about Richard Shepherd, who lost the whip under John Major over an increase in the Brussels budget

Sir Richard Shepherd, for 35 years an independently minded Conservative MP, died last month. How should he be remembered? As a Eurosceptic and a natural rebel, certainly, and also as the founder of…

20/02/2024

What was the critical Eurosceptic take of the Single Market?

In our latest video, Lord Lilley reflects on some of the issues in play.

20/02/2024

As well as the output and the arguments, we'll also explore the life stories and drivers of some of the key people behind the EU debate.

We're crossing our fingers we can get a certain famous pin striped suit for the Sir Bill display...

20/02/2024

From Boston to Fleetwood (see pic) and Jersey to Peterhead, the CFP was - and Fisheries remain - an enduring point of bitter political contention with the EU.

We'll explore the controversy, the human cost, and the price to the consumer and the conservationist.

08/02/2024

The Fresh Start Group was a major Eurosceptic player within the Conservative Party in the Cameron years. It framed expectations around reform.

It is one of a number of groups we'll cover in the museum, and where we are gathering archival material for academic research.