By Gully Foyle author of "75 Brexit Benefits: Tangible Benefits from The UK Having Left The European Union"
The British Public are United More Than We Believe – For National Sovereignty
In early August of this year, the usual pro-EU outlets and speakers were yet again all over the media with their latest polling conducted for them by More in Common – polling which they said showed only 29% of Brits would still vote for Brexit today if given the ability to do so. But what the polling really showed, alongside another poll conducted around the same time, is that voicing your position as being against Brexit is now only a skin deep virtue signal. A sticker on the lid of the laptop, a badge to wear on the beret. When it comes to actual policies and core beliefs of where the legislative power should reside, the British public are more united on their opinions than many of us could ever imagine.
Opposition to Brexit is Only Skin-Deep
This second poll, conducted by YouGov on behalf of Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) focused on asking people about who should be in charge of decision-making in 20 different areas – all of which would be either partially of fully in the realms of EU control were the UK to still be a member or (heaven forbid) ever consider rejoining. The polling covered over 4,500 British adults, twice as many as the aforementioned More in Common polling, and at no point made any mention at all about Brexit.
The results were frankly astounding.
For all 20 areas of competence, which ranged from minimum levels of VAT through to animal welfare, the most popular answer for *every single one* was that the UK government alone should make the decisions outside of any involvement from international bodies or a certain neighbouring political union. Not only was this the most popular answer for all 20 competencies, but it also saw majority support in 17 of the 20.
Conflicted Party Beliefs
The really astounding part of the YouGov/QMUL polling though was the breakdown of the data for party political alignment. There of course should be no surprise that both Conservative and Reform UK supporters scored highly on the question of national sovereignty, but even the most vocally pro-EU national party the Liberal Democrats also saw majority support for UK sole decision-making in a whopping 16 of the 20 areas of competency.
Brexit Benefits Abound
The great thing about the YouGov/QMUL polling is that it shows us that, overall, the British people got what they wanted when the UK left the EU in 2016. There is certainly a big question raised here about how much the pro-EU camp really understood about the inner workings of the EU, and what it was that they voted for/against, but for your average Leave voter there is no surprise there. I, for one, have been educating EU supporters over social media since 2016, and I shall no doubt continue to do so long after my book has come and gone.
When you strip away the tribal Us v Them mentality that has built up in the UK over the decision to leave the EU, most people actually agree on many things. Those things they agree on, tell us that we were right to leave the EU.
Gully Foyle is an outspoken online researcher, commentator and now published author, whose first book "75 Brexit Benefits: Tangible Benefits from The UK Having Left The European Union" is on sale now at Amazon and all good bookshops.
