Far-reaching though the effects of this moment in the Brexit story will be, the 2019 general election may change the landscape of British politics and the fabric of its society in even more profound and decisive ways. With renewed calls for a referendum on independence for Scotland, the specter of “the breakup of Britain” that has long haunted the UK may materialize at last—just at the moment when English nationalists are celebrating their Brexit victory. A fourth successive defeat for the Labour Party and an outright win for a Conservative Party has sharpened dividing lines, squeezed the liberal center, and broken consensus into polarity. At stake after this election, then, is the future of what has made Britain a reasonably civilized country since 1945: social democracy.
