Brexit: how did the UK get here?

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The British integration into Europe over the course of more than forty years has been a bumpy road and has earned the United Kingdom names such as ‘an awkward partner’. Even though it started on a very positive note in the post-1945 years, with Winston Churchill calling for the creation of the United State of Europe, the British held on tightly to the idea of maintaining their global influence, the sovereignty of their Parliament and the independence of the courts. The British have preferred intergovernmental links over a supranational European structure. With time, a combination of factors have led to the critical situation the UK and the European Union now face. Some of these factors have been: the constant clashes between the British and Continental legal and political traditions that have been magnified by the British media’s sometimes aggressive and colourful reporting and a Conservative Party that has been unable to contain some of more Eurosceptic elements within it eventually giving in to the postulates of the UK Independence Party leading to a historic referendum as the country was emerging out of one of the worst economic crises in decades.