British euroscepticism: Margaret Thatcher’s key speeches = Chủ nghĩa hoài nghi châu Âu ở nước Anh qua những bài diễn văn tiêu biểu của Margaret Thatcher

• Main Author: Nguyễn, Thị Thúy Ngân
• Other Authors: Phạm, Thị Thanh Thủy
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Tiếng Anh > Phân tích diễn ngôn; Văn hóa > Anh; Chủ nghĩa hoài nghi > Châu Âu
• Online Access: http://repository.vnu.edu.vn/handle/VNU_123/100832
• Institution: Vietnam National University, Hanoi

The opt-out of the United Kingdom from the European Union on June 23, 2016 not only puts an end to a 43-year rocky relationship between Britain and the Continent but also triggers the old matter of Euroscepticism. Among the articles related to Euroscepticism, the name of ex-British Prime Minister – Margaret Thatcher who is supposed to be a leading voice among the Euro sceptics is frequently mentioned. Therefore, this graduation paper would like to investigate whether Margaret Thatcher is Eurosceptic and what Euroscepticism was expressed via her speeches during her premiership from 1979 to 1990. To answer this question, three speeches of Margaret Thatcher were selected and analyzed with content analysis and the Leconte’s theoretical framework on Euroscepticism which divided Euroscepticism into 4 main types: Utilitarian Euroscepticism, Political Euroscepticism, Value-based Euroscepticism and Cultural – Anti Europeanism. After a thorough and careful analysis, the researcher came to conclusion that Margaret Thatcher expressed her strong opposition to the European Union in the aspects of economy, politics and values. On the contrary, no sign of cultural-anti Europeanism was found in her speeches. In other words, Margaret Thatcher was rather pro-European as far as the cultural aspect is concerned. She might outwardly expressed her strong objection to the re-distributive policies of the Community, the cumbersome organization of the Union, etc., but she never stopped believing in the close relationship between the UK and the Continent and always claimed that the Britain’s destiny was “inside Europe, as part of the Community” (Thatcher, 1988, para. 46).