| Topic: | The Will of the People and Brexit | |
| Posted by: | Andy Jones | |
| Date/Time: | 25/06/18 09:20:00 |
One thing that really surprised me after the referendum is how polarised and tribal the issue became after the result. Many people had quite fluid views before the vote but afterwards they seem to have become set in stone with a relatively small proportion changing their minds. Most of the polls held since have shown a majority of people now want to Remain but the swing is a result of people having been undecided at the time of the referendum changing their minds. The most recent Survation poll does suggest that this is starting to change with a 6% gap between Remain and Leave. This was held before the news about Airbus and BMW so that gap is only going to get bigger. I've had a number of conversations with ardent Leavers in recent weeks in which they have said that they still would vote the same way even though their son's/daughter's, grandson's/granddaughter's employer would be negatively affected by leaving the EU. It occurs to me that many people might be saying this because they don't want to admit an error or to changing their mind after arguing so stridently for one point of view but if they were given the chance again in a live vote rather than a poll they would put the interests of their family members ahead of their desire for vindication. This would mean that the polls currently are significantly understating the swing towards Remain and, if there were a second referendum, the will of the people would clearly be to stay in the EU. It would really be helpful for someone to explain to me why, given that the will of the British people seems to have decisively changed, that we should be inflicting something on them that is clearly not wanted or in their best interest. |