The referendum has stamped identities on two opposing groups long in the making. Whatever the outcome of the talks, British society has a new divide
Plenty of attention has been paid to how Brexit is driving apart the countries that make up the United Kingdom; Scotland and Northern Ireland both backed Remain and bitterly resent being dragged out of theby the English. Less consideration has been given to what divides the two tribes of Remainers and Leavers. Even among the moderate middle, Brexit has become the biggest ideological split. Half the population identifies with a religion.
Political bickering isn’t new. But it is bigger over Brexit than conventional politics. A study by NatCen Social Research found that 71% of young people living at home backed the same side as their parents in the referendum. By comparison, in the general election of 2015, 86% voted the same way. Brexit is dividing couples, too. In the election 89% backed the same side as their live-in partner; only 79% did in the referendum.
The uneven distribution of the vote also means that, whereas the overall result was 52:48, the median postcode backed Leave by about 59:41, according to Mr Kanagasooriam. Middle England is substantially more Brexity than Remainers may realise. Remainers, too, have toughened their line. “Initially I thought, well, we’ve got to work for the least-worst option here,” says Iain Roxburgh, who among other things worries about the Portuguese carer of his 103-year-old mother-in-law. But “Theresa May hasn’t dealt with her party, she’s been led by the nose by them.
The fury is an extraordinary reaction to the dry matters on which Brexit has foundered. Most voters would struggle to define a customs union, yet some denounce remaining part of the’s trading arrangement as “treachery”. Mr Singh offers a diagnosis from the psychotherapist’s couch. When his clients argue about Brexit often they are really arguing about other things.
As Brexit has helped Labour conquer liberal Tory territory, it has weakened its grip on culturally conservative places. In Mansfield Ben Bradley, a 27-year-old Conservative, toppled Sir Alan Meale, who had held the seat since before Mr Bradley was born. The former coal and textiles town is as naturally Labour as Kensington is Tory.
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