Comment

The Legacy and Future of Brexit

8 October 2020

Today sees the publication of two chapters on Brexit as part of the latest British Social Attitudes report. One examines the legacy of Brexit, that is, the impact that the process of leaving has had on our attitudes towards how we are governed. The other looks at what people hope Brexit will bring in future, […]


The value of care workers; insight from attitudes towards post-Brexit immigration policy

22 April 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has seemingly cast a fresh perspective on the occupations we value. Health workers have been lauded for ‘risking their lives’ on the ‘front line’, language that hitherto has usually been applied to the bravery of those serving in the armed forces abroad rather than the dedication of those working in a public […]


How Voters Have Viewed the Article 50 Process

26 March 2019

The UK was due to leave the EU on March 29, exactly two years after it gave notice to the EU that it wished to leave, and over two and a half years since voters voted by 52% to 48% to leave the EU. During that time, the UK government has been negotiating a treaty […]


Government vs. The Lords: Where Do Voters Stand?

3 March 2017

Now that the House of Lords has opted to amend the Bill designed to give the Prime Minister the authority to give the EU formal notice that the UK wishes to leave, the House of Commons will be invited to consider once again whether EU citizens currently living in the UK should be automatically given […]


Does Mrs May’s Brexit Plan Meet Voters’ Expectations?

31 January 2017

A fortnight has now passed since Mrs May unveiled her ‘Plan for Britain’, the most detailed indication yet of the UK’s likely negotiating stance in the forthcoming talks with the EU on the terms of its withdrawal.  In the speech that launched her Plan, she made it clear that the UK government has no interest […]


The People’s Priority? Free Trade or Immigration Control?

7 September 2016

Much of the debate about what Brexit might mean in practice has focused on the difficulties the UK might face in attempting to remain a remember of EU single market in respect of goods and services while insisting on being able to impose restrictions on freedom of movement, that is the right of EU citizens […]


A Little Relief for Remain?

20 June 2016

It is often said that what goes down must come back up again. We thus perhaps should not be surprised that, after a sharp decline in support for Remain during the course of last week, four polls conducted over the weekend should have reported some recovery in its position. Even so, that will not stop […]


Leave Make A Leap

18 June 2016

On Thursday morning journalists and politicians were avidly discussing the apparent implications of two more opinion polls released within hours of each other. Yet no sooner had they begun to digest their results and the political world – and many ordinary citizens – were shocked by the murder of the Labour MP, Jo Cox, on […]


Another Poll Makes Waves (For A While)

12 June 2016

Not for the first time in recent weeks, a poll has made waves amongst commentators and the markets. The latest example came from ORB in an internet poll that appeared in Saturday’s Independent. Its headline figures were Leave 55%, Remain 45%. Although the Leave tally in the poll was boosted by two points as a […]


Another week, another false dawn?

3 June 2016

It is, in truth, becoming an all too familiar story. Both last week and the week before, many a media headline gave the impression that there had been a significant shift in the polls in favour of Remain. In both instances we argued here that a cooler, more systematic look at the polls suggested there was insufficient […]


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