Reconsidering the theme of empire in the United Kingdom’s current political rhetoric

The article looks at the new trends in the contemporary UK’s political life. Recent years have reintroduced the discussions of the empire and its role for Britain in numerous directions. It is being reconsidered in relation to the UK and EU interaction in the context of Brexit; in connection to the ideological content and planning of the UK foreign policy under the new circumstances; and in terms of revising of the empire’s historical legacy. The author analyses the recent developments examining the research papers on this topic, the speeches of important political figures and experts, the government’s strategic documents and media publications.
The re-emergence of the empire rhetoric can be most prominently observed in the discussions around Brexit. Its opponents regularly accused the ‘leave’ side of imperial nostalgia, while the proponents of Brexit tried to portray the EU as a new form of empire itself. In the search of new ideas and points of reference for the future UK foreign policy, policy makers and experts turn to the countries and regions with historical ties, common language and cultural affinity with the UK and this, in turn, is met by criticism and can be seen as attempts to rebuild the British Empire.
At the same time, the new cycle of global movements aimed at combating racism and exposing the historical injustices on the global and national levels, leads to re-emergence of heated discussions about the destructive legacies of colonialism and is reflected in the new events in the British political and social life.
As a result, the perceptions of empire and its legacy contribute to the political and social divisions, and the discussion of empire acquires new characteristics.

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