02 June 2018

Financial Times: Younger Britons are happy for Britain to be a ‘vassal state’

A new survey, conducted by DeltaPoll, suggests that another vote today would produce almost exactly the opposite result to the verdict in June 2016: a 5 per cent majority for Remain, compared with a four-point lead for Leave two years ago.

[...]Another question explains what is happening — and illuminates a dangerously large gulf between those in early or mid-career, and those who are in or close to retirement. The poll asked people which of two statements about the current Brexit negotiations comes closest to their view:

“It’s vital for jobs, investment and living standards here in the UK for us to continue to trade as freely with the EU as we do today, even if this limits our freedom to decide our own business and trading rules.”

Or:

“It’s vital that Britain regains the right to decide its own business and trading rules, even if this reduces our ability to trade freely with the EU and risks being bad for jobs, investment and living standards.”

Almost half responded that they wished to protect jobs and living standards at all costs, while 38 per cent regarded British sovereignty as the higher priority. Stripping out the “don’t knows”, the verdict is 56-44 per cent in favour of economic strength.

The generation gap on the direction Brexit should take is significant. Among voters who are under 55 — and therefore likely to be directly affected by the impact of Brexit on jobs and investment — the margin is almost two-to-one: 65 to 35 per cent. But the over-55s regard sovereignty as more important, by 59 to 41 per cent.

Some fervently claim that any attempt to reverse the 2016 referendum result would provoke anger from those who voted for Brexit. Perhaps we should also consider the danger that younger Remain voters could rebel against the threat to future prosperity in the pursuit of a sovereignty they consider of secondary importance.

There is another argument that we need to consider. It is that the polling question poses a false dichotomy: that Britain does not have to choose between prosperity and independence, for we can have both. The problem here is that hardly anyone outside the ranks of the most committed Brexiters seems to share this view. [...]

Full article on Financial Times (subscription required)

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