It’s not exactly breaking news to suggest that voters in their teens and early-to-mid-twenties are less enthusiastic about the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. However, a new opinion poll has exposed the sheer scale of the youth’s Brexit rejection.
ALSO READ: A reminder that the UK is set to be £311bn worse off by 2035 due to leaving EU
Younger voters roundly reject Brexit, as 84% favour a return to the EU
Several recent polls on this matter show that there is approximately a 60-40 split among the general public, in favour of rejoining the EU. However, these sentiments are super-charged among the 18-25 year old voters.
None of those polled were able to vote in the 2016 referendum, which was held exactly eight years ago today. Like the rest of us, the younger generation are yet to reap the rewards of the ‘sunlit uplands’ that were promised by Brexit’s biggest backers.
How Brexit has impacted young British voters
Younger adults could also argue they have been disproportionately impacted by the referendum result, after popular agreements such as the Erasmus study programme and Freedom of Movement across all EU states were scrapped for Brits.
One estimate provided by Bloomberg suggests Brexit has ended up costing Britain over £100 billion a year in ‘lost output’. Altering the agreements with our nearest and most profitable trading partners has not worked out for the best, it can be said.
The B-word is barely being mentioned during this election campaign, either. Neither the Tories nor Labour are calling out the damage this divorce has done to the economy. However, this so-called ‘conspiracy of silence’ is doing little to change minds.
Poll results reflect pro-EU values among the youth
Savanta’s poll, conducted last week, shows that more than four in five adults aged 25 or under would vote to rejoin the EU, if another referendum was called. A paltry 16% would choose to keep Brexit in place.
As per this data, the younger generation favours a future of co-operation with the EU, rather than isolation within the UK.