2 July 2024
If the polls of voting intention in the general election are at all correct, then by the end of this week Sir Keir Starmer will be the new tenant of 10 Downing St. If so, then it is not expected that the new government will seek to overturn Brexit. In line with the stance adopted […]
7 May 2024
One key feature of Sir Keir Starmer’s tenure as Labour leader has been a firm acceptance of the result of the 2016 referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. The party even voted for the Trade and Co-operation Agreement when it was finally concluded at the end of 2020. Although the party has indicated a […]
26 February 2024
For a government that had argued that Brexit would deliver lower levels of immigration, there were two unwelcome bits of news in November. First, it emerged that net migration had reached a new record high annual total of 745,000. Second, the Supreme Court ruled that Rwanda is not a ‘safe country’ and thus an inappropriate […]
26 February 2024
Should he win the next general election, one of the key decisions that will face Sir Keir Starmer will be whether and how far to seek a softening of the terms of the Brexit deal negotiated by Boris Johnson. Although Labour have ruled out any attempt to rejoin the EU, the party has left the […]
19 December 2023
The latest poll from Redfield and Wilton Strategies for UK in a Changing Europe shows something of a drop in support for re-joining the EU. Once those who say ‘don’t know’ or indicate that they would not vote are left aside, 56% now say they would vote to re-join, while 44% state they would back […]
8 November 2023
Brexit emerges as a little less unpopular in the latest poll by Redfield & Wilton for the UK in a Changing Europe. Once those who say Don’t Know are set aside, 59% say they would vote to re-join the EU, while 41% indicate that they would vote to stay out. That represents a swing of […]
31 August 2023
The defining slogan of the Leave campaign in the 2016 EU referendum was, of course, ‘Take back control’. The slogan not only referenced how Brexit would facilitate control of immigration, but also of goods and services entering the UK. For some advocates of Leave at least, that latter prospect was a crucial part of their […]
23 June 2023
Much has happened in the year that has elapsed between today’s seventh anniversary of the 2016 EU referendum and the sixth anniversary a year ago. Two Prime Ministers have come and gone, one of whom is not even an MP anymore. Nicola Sturgeon has stepped down as First Minister of Scotland after as much as […]
12 May 2023
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
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 […]
