Circumstances

Delivered on the 9th of May 2016, Boris Johnson's speech on the EU referendum was given in the context of the British Referendum on leaving or remaining in the EU, scheduled to take place on the 23rd of June 2016.

The EU referendum was a result of the 2015 general election's victory of the Conservative Party, who promised to have the referendum if they won. Looking at the larger picture, the organisation of the referendum was a result of growing dissatisfaction of parts of the British population with being part of the EU, something which the speaker also points out: “For many of us who are now deeply sceptical, the evolution has been roughly the same: we began decades ago to query the antidemocratic absurdities of the EU. Then we began to campaign for reform…” (ll. 14-17)

Wh...