From Ambivalence to Hostility: The Role of the Tabloid Press in the Debate about UK Membership of the EU

Stephen George famously labelled Britain as ‘the awkward partner’. David Cameron’s announcement in January 2013 that the Conservatives would hold a referendum on UK membership of the EU in 2017 (if his party were to win a majority in the 2015 general election) was a watershed moment in the evolution of the British Eurosceptic debate and illustrates just how mainstreamed ‘hard’  Euroscepticism has become within the UK. How is it that the UK could well be set on a path to becoming an “ex-partner” (rather than just an ‘awkward’ one) as the relationship between the UK and Brussels slowly continues to unravel? The paper examines how the UK ‘tabloid press’ in particular have acted as a key re-enforcer of British Euroscepticism and argues that, in the context of the economic crisis in the Eurozone, recent developments such as the Daily Express’ ‘Britain out of Europe’ campaign have had a significant impact in helping to shift the focus of media coverage about UK membership of the EU to nothing short of an emotional and psychological debate, where ‘rational choice’ and economic interest arguments surrounding have become totally submerged. The article concludes that a ‘tipping-point’ has been reached with regard to the UK debate about membership of the EU, and that the lack of a ‘level playing-field’ in terms of EU coverage amongst the UK tabloid press, has led to a situation where, in a potential referendum campaign, its citizens would be unable to ‘weigh up’ the ‘costs’ and ‘benefits’ of EU.