A very English Brexit: A comparative analysis of the immigration debate in the news media of the four UK nations

Abstract

This thesis compares the immigration discourses in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland during Britain’s EU referendum. It has been speculated that immigration was influential in the decision to leave the European Union 23 June 2016. The decade prior to the referendum, immigration increased following EU expansion to include central and eastern European states. Migration is concentrated in south-east England with little inward migration to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Using a discourse analysis of 1476 newspaper articles from each UK nation, the thesis finds anti-immigration sentiment disseminated during the campaign to be bound in English experiences and positive experiences specific to individual nations. A sense of possessiveness in British services and culture is linked to contemporary English nationalism, informed by feelings of lost power to devolved governments, the EU and opposition to immigration.