12 May 2023 Comment The Brexit process
Previously we have examined the extent to which the relationship between attitudes towards Brexit and party support has changed since 2019, when most Leave voters backed the Conservatives and most Remain supporters did not. We noted that support for the Conservatives has collapsed among those who voted Leave in 2016, while support for Labour has […]
28 April 2023 Comment Migration and freedom of movement
The UK government has concerned itself with addressing what it terms ‘illegal’ migration, in particular those who cross the English Channel with the aim of claiming asylum in the UK. Last year, it introduced a policy of transferring asylum seekers to Rwanda for their claim to be settled there, though as yet that policy is […]
10 March 2023 Comment The Brexit process
For the most part, politicians on both sides of the Brexit debate have decided that the decision made seven years ago is not for turning. Not only do the Conservatives, who implemented Brexit, take that view but Labour spokespersons also state that the decision to leave has been taken and should not be revisited. Meanwhile, […]
10 March 2023 Comment What should Brexit mean?
The conclusion of a new agreement between the UK and the EU on how the movement of goods between Great Britain (outside the single market) and Northern Ireland (inside) has fuelled speculation that it might pave the way for some softening of the UK’s relationship with the EU. Public attitudes towards some of the steps […]
3 February 2023 Comment The Brexit process
In recent blogs we have chartered how public opinion has swung away from backing Brexit, thanks not least to greater pessimism among Leave voters about the economic consequences of being outside the EU. Meanwhile, most Remain voters, though only a minority of Leave supporters, would like a closer relationship with the EU than that provided […]
23 January 2023 Comment The Brexit Vote: Right or Wrong? What should Brexit mean?
In two blogs earlier this month (see here and here), we argued that (i) over the last year there has been a marked swing in favour of rejoining the EU, and (ii) that the principal reason for this was a decline in the proportion of Leave voters who would now vote to stay out of […]
6 January 2023 Comment Perceived consequences of leaving the EU
In our previous blog on attitudes towards Brexit since the UK left the EU single market, we noted that after oscillating up and down in 2021, the last twelve months witnessed a marked decline in support for being outside the EU. On average, the polls now suggest that 57% would vote to rejoin the EU, […]
5 January 2023 Comment The Brexit Vote: Right or Wrong?
It is now two years since the UK left the EU single market and customs union following the conclusion of a Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) between the UK and the EU at the very end of 2020. That agreement was the final stage of a Brexit process instigated by the majority vote to Leave […]
20 December 2022 Comment What should Brexit mean?
A month ago, The Sunday Times ran a front-page story in which it claimed that ‘senior government figures are planning to put Britain on the path towards a Swiss-style relationship with the European Union’. Although outside the EU, a series of bilateral deals mean Switzerland has access to the single market and implements freedom of […]
20 December 2022 Comment Migration and freedom of movement
Immigration was one of the central issues in the 2016 EU referendum campaign. One of the benefits it was argued would flow from Brexit was that the UK would be able to ‘take back control of its borders’. The apparent contrast between that claim and the substantial and increasing flow of people crossing the English […]
