BRITAIN AND EUROPE 1973-2020 • • METHOD 1

Method 2 docs

Stage 1 - Introduction: presenting the documents
Similarities: Both documents deal with the Conservative ambivalence towards Europe, here the European Union, when David Cameron was UK’s Prime Minister 2010-2016.
Differences: The 1st document is an article by John Henley describing the UK-EU stormy relations and posted on The Guardian (broadsheet) website on 23 June 2016. The 2nd document is a cartoon by Clissold Scott about the winner of the 2016 referendum published in The Daily Star on 1 March 2016.
Announce structure: In a 1st part I’ll describe the run-un to the 2016 referendum & in a 2nd part I’ll focus on the referendum itself.

Stage 2 - Analysing the documents

DESCRIBING - What you see (docs)
 INTERPRETING - What you know (notions)
1. Cameron under pressure: the run-up to the referendum with article except last §

Article P1 As soon as he became PM, David Cameron vetoed an EU financial treaty.
Article P2 In 2013 he promised a referendum on EU membership due to UKIP’s threat (attract Tory Eurosceptics which it did in 2014)
Article P3 Then tried negotiating with EU but it was busy with migrant crisis

- 2008-2011 EU eurozone debt crisis (facts) when Cameron blocked the EU budget (2011) (facts)
- Tory party divided between soft (Cameron) & hard Eurosceptics (defs) + outside threat UKIP (def)
- 2015-2016 EU migrant crisis (facts)
+ Feb 2016 Cameron-EU negotiations: less EU power in Europe (less supranational superstate def, more sovereignty def) but too little & too late

2. The referendum of 23 June 2016 thanks to article last § & cartoon

Article P4 The referendum: will it mean UK-EU divorce (Leave) or reconciliation (Remain)?
The result: cartoon foreground red carpet, trophy (unhappy face) & announcement like Oscars & background big fight in the UK but also inside the Tory Party: Out (Johnson) / In (Cameron)

23 June referendum result: ’Leave’ (51.9%) narrowly won over ‘Remain’ (48.1%) show British both public opinion & Conservative Party shifted from soft to hard Euroscepticism fuelled by tabloids Euro bashing (only 2 Europhile papers left) => Brexit (def)

Stage 3 - Concluding
Assess docs (reliable/biased justified): To conclude, these documents are reliable as we have their full references ; the article is unbiased as it describes the facts, what actually happened, however/while the cartoon is biased (by nature) as it ridicules Cameron, Johnson and the British.
Sum-up ideas These docs show how PM David Cameron, a soft Eurosceptic, tried and failed to appease his party & UKIP hard Eurosceptics. Consequently his referendum led to divorce with Europe and division in Britain.
+ Open As Cameron resigned on 13 July 2016 to be replaced by Theresa May, we may wonder how she negotiated UK withdrawal from the EU… No comment....