October 21, 2015 12:00 am
EU referendum exposes class divide in British society

John McDermott, Political Correspondent


 
 


Young, university educated and middle-class Britons are most likely to want the UK to stay in the EU, according to a report that suggests the vote on membership of the bloc will “expose significant social division” in the country.

A study published on Wednesday by NatCen Social Research using data from opinion polls and the annual British Social Attitudes Survey found that those who feel they benefit from immigration, diversity and globalisation are also likely to want Britain to retain its membership of the EU.

   

“The referendum is not just about Britain’s relationship with the EU but is also a debate about what kind of a country Britain can and wants to be,” said the author of the report, John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde.

Opinion polls on EU membership have closed in recent months but they still suggest that the UK will vote narrowly to remain in the bloc at the plebiscite David Cameron has vowed to hold before the end of 2017.

Only a quarter of Britons aged 18-34 said they intended to vote to leave the EU, according to the attitudes survey, with 69 per cent saying they would vote to remain, while the rest were undecided.

That compares with 46 per cent of those aged over 55 intending to vote for Brexit and 45 per cent saying they will opt to stay. A similar pattern of results was found in the other polls reviewed by Professor Curtice.

Any Briton under 58 years of age would have been unable to vote the last time the UK had a referendum on European membership — in 1975, when 67 per cent opted to stay in the then European Economic Community.

The report noted that one reason occasionally given for holding a referendum is that these younger people have not had a chance to consent to the EU.
In depth



David Cameron is under pressure from all sides and faces a delicate balancing act in renegotiating a UK settlement with the EU.



But “if the franchise were to be restricted to those who were unable to vote 40 years ago, the probability that Britain would vote to remain would be markedly greater”, concluded Prof Curtice.

Those with less formal education and from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to want to vote to leave — a similar pattern that was seen regarding Yes voters in the Scottish independence referendum.

Of university graduates, 78 per cent want to remain, according to the report, but of those with no qualifications, the figure is 35 per cent. This pattern partly reflects how older people are less likely to have attended university.

In the three opinion polls surveyed by NatCen there were majorities to remain in the EU among those in social class AB, academic shorthand for those in managerial and professional jobs.

Among those in social class DE — semi- and unskilled workers — there were majorities to leave, or opinion was within the statistical margin of error.
Opinion

Britain stumbles into long EU-referendum campaign
Jonathan McHugh illustration

The Out camp makes an impression but arguments to stay in Europe are stronger, writes Hugo Dixon


Unlike in last year’s Scottish referendum, where women were more likely to vote against secession than men, there is no clear gender difference in attitudes towards the EU, according to Prof John Curtice.

Among supporters of political parties, majorities of Labour and Liberal Democrat voters said they intend to vote to remain.

Conservatives were more finely split, with most polls showing no majority for either side if “don’t know” voters are included.

A large majority of United Kingdom Independence party supporters said they would vote to leave. But despite Brexit being the defining cause of Nigel Farage’s party, one poll shows 17 per cent of Ukippers keen to opt to stay in the bloc.








Article in the Financial Times.



It seems to point that if you are older and poorly educated you are more likely to be an out supporter. That would explain the overwhelming out support on here.

The young are just scared of change, the buzzword so many politicians like to use for the sake of use !

Moi aussi.OUT.

pssst pus

how about having a bash at answering

ah well

Out - only because it could very well facilitate the noble cause of Scottish Independence. All other considerations are secondary

I will, of course, be voting along with the vast majority to remain in the most successful political union the world has ever seen. One that guarantees our security and future prosperity.

Now once this is issue is finally put to bed I would expect all UKIPpers to slither away quietly given that they will have no raison d'être.

It will be a landslide, and you can take that prediction to the bank.

The EU is the best example of socialists voting for capitalism without understanding what they are doing.

I really doubt it. The only way that the UK will vote to stay in is if the politicians tell us to vote no. The majority assume that whatever the politicians recommend is bound to be a mistake.

too true burty boy

tooo true

The verdict on the Dyson case yesterday is yet another example of the EU acting like a handicapper in racing. If a British company is doing better than the French or German ones, dream up a regulation to ban or damage the competitiveness of their products. It is called protectionism and is the main function of the EU apart from providing high paid jobs for the offspring of the european political class.

Dyson held off a long while,perhaps we should be blaming the politicians for not protecting british jobs ?

"Dyson held on for a long while"

Did they?

This is from 2003....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2860995/Dyson-production-moves-to-Malaysia.html

865 "British company" jobs lost as Dyson takes all it can from UK government then moves production to far east.

Just remember treetop, the money that they received from our government was your money and mine. Dyson used that money to create the illusion of permanently employing British workers in order to refine their manufacturing processes.  Once those processes were developed and honed by skilled British workers (and they had received the maximum grants available) they jumped ship to the far East, dumping those skilled workers on the dole.

I sincerely believe there's a decent chance the results will be fixed. The political elite almost exclusively wish to remain in. I'll certainly be betting on 'in'.

"In 2011 it was revealed that the European
Parliament was spending £80 million on spin
doctors and its own television channel. It came to
light that the Parliament was employing 722
people in ‘communication posts’ at a cost of
£70.2 million per annum"

.....he/they abandons practically all "pledges" - not because they don't want to implement, usually because they haven't thought things past the initial sound-bite

>  HRA Act (scrapped within 100 days): -  a shambles, no alternative drafted, and too many obstacles
>  Renegotiate terms with EU: - eventually a puzzled EU asked  "what the f*ck do you want to re-   negotiate exactly?" "Ehmm we don't know either - gives us 3-4 weeks and we'll think of something

Neil Kinnock was anti EU but when he was rejected by your electorate he joined in the party,brought his wife along as well.

Mobo absolutely correct all those unscrupulous politicians will sell their country down the river for a sinecure.

Turkey will be joining shortly,they tacitly support ISIS now and have 80 million Muslims to help in the takeover.

"A major European Union (EU) diversity conference has been cancelled at the last minute, after host-city Brussels’ ‘diverse’ population were judged as a terror threat, rather than something that needed celebrating."

.
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/11/26/eus-pro-diversity-forum-cancelled-due-security-situation-caused-pro-diversity-policies/