Major Brexit conference announced for next month

A three-day symposium entitled “Bordering on Brexit: Global Britain and the Embers of the Empire” will be held at the Garrison Library next month.

The conference will commence after an opening speech by Dr Joseph Garcia, and throughout the event speakers will analyse different aspects of Brexit in detail.

It is being organised by Dr Jennifer Ballantine-Perera, in conjunction with the University of Copenhagen and the Office of the Deputy Chief Minister.

A spokesman for the symposium said: “As the United Kingdom navigates the shoals of Brexit and casts about for alternative futures, it is widely assumed that the imperial past has much to answer for – with Brexit derided variously as a ‘pining for empire’; ‘England’s Last Gasp of Empire, and the prelude to ‘Empire 2.0’.”

“This is not just a matter of unrepentant Remainers resorting to easy political put-downs, but also registers in the rhetoric of the Brexiteers themselves.”

With regards to Gibraltar, which voted overwhelmingly to remain in the European Union, the immediate practical challenges of Brexit will be analysed too.

The symposium will start on Thursday September 20, and will continue for three days.