11 March 2017

Open Britain: New poll reveals hard Brexit is alienating a generation of young people

A new poll of students has revealed that they feel their views on Brexit are being ignored by the Government. They mainly voted Remain in the referendum; are pessimistic about the outcome of the negotiations; oppose hard Brexit; and overwhelmingly want to have a final say over the Brexit deal.

Students are pro-European. The overwhelming majority of students (84%) voted Remain and 99% of them have no ‘bregrets’ about doing so. By contrast, 9% of the 16% of students who voted Leave regret it. Among students who did not vote, two-thirds now say they would vote Remain, compared to just 13% who would vote to Leave.

For them, the economy is the priority. Regardless of how they voted. For both Remain (76%) and Leave (64%) voters, protecting jobs and future employment opportunities was the top priority in the Brexit negotiations. As a result, the clear majority support a soft Brexit (72%) over a hard Brexit (17%), though nearly two thirds of Leave voting students favour the latter.

Young people want their voice to be heard. They are extremely pessimistic about the outcome of Brexit negotiations, particularly on the economy. More than five times as many students think their prospects will change for the worse because of Brexit than for the better. Consequently, they are critical of the Government. By a ratio of fourteen to one young people think that the Government are engaging with young people badly. Most importantly, more than eight in ten students want to have their say over the final Brexit deal, with 53% backing a second referendum and 25% wanting it done through their elected representatives in Parliament.

Full data

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