Three Circles into One: Brexit Britain: how did we get here and what happens next?

by William Waldegrave

As the UK's national narrative falters and trust in key political institutions is wavering what does the future hold? Is the UK set to become 'Singapore on Thames?' as some suggest? What might a future relationship with the EU look like? What would it take to rekindle a real enthusiasm for the European project, as opposed to the semi-detached relationship Britain has had with the EU? How do we rebuild trust in our institutions and create a new, 21st century national narrative for Britain?

William Waldegrave says ' Whatever happens about Brexit, Britain is going to change forever. We will have to decide what kind of country we want to be. We will need a new national narrative. I want to start people thinking about all our futures.'

89 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 12, 2019

Reviews

[Kartik Bhargava · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, but the national narrative that Waldegrave uses to explain brexit is fundamentally flawed in that it presumes that the british population had a disdain for the EUs political ideology or at the very least were missold the integration the EU required. This narrative doesn't tie in with the evidence that those who voted leave have been disenfranchised of any meaningful reforms that aim to tackle the issues that concern them (e.g. poor wage growth, unemployment, inequality), and that these issues fundamentally have nothing to do with the EU. Therefore any essay on the matter should at the very least consider these tropes into its analysis. Having read this book, I get the impression that Mr Waldegrave has a very niche target audience that he is trying to target. The book makes little attempt to actually explain the factual basis for Mr Waldegraves analysis, which makes it a difficult read for those who aren't well versed in British-european history. The analysis itself feels as though it lacks depth and attempts to explain more complicated aspected are veneered in metaphors. The net effect of this is that at the end of every chapter I am left wondering what exactly the core message is of the book. The last 4 chapters do make up for this however, but I feel as though the book could be more concisely written with better explanation of the things discussed.

[Lucille Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting perspective from Lord Waldegrave about Brexit and its consequences, based upon the idea that the British people were not properly informed about the nature of UK entanglement with the EU. However, in denying factors outside pure EU membership as contributions to the Brexit vote, its explanatory value, while rich in insights as to a certain English elite's view of Brexit Britain, is rather weak generally.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book. It’s insightful, well thought out and quick to read (c. 2 hours if you’re taking your time).

The first half of the book focuses on the long-standing cultural influences that led to the UK’s Brexit vote in 2016. This part of the book is well-reasoned and carefully explained, and the author’s unique perspective (he’s a Conservative remain voter who sits in the House of Lords) provides the reader with valuable insight that our regular journalists don’t seem to be interested in offering at present.

The second half of the book looks at the likely outcomes of the Brexit process, the painful costs of 2019’s parliamentary bickering and how that impacts the general public’s trust in its institutions, and the likely long term damage caused by Brexit to the UK as we know it, regardless of what comes next.

It’s a four star book for me as I felt that some of the author’s statements should have been backed up with references to external sources (it felt too much like raw opinion in places), and there were a handful of sentences that could have been structured better (I had to re-read a lot of paragraphs to make sure I understood what the author was saying). It’s worth every penny and deserves to be read.