“The kids are alright…”
An overwhelming majority of young people in the UK say they would vote to rejoin the European Union if another referendum were held, according to new polling. The findings suggest that Britain’s youngest voters remain firmly pro-European nearly a decade after the Brexit vote.
The survey, conducted by Savanta for ITV’s Youth Tracker, sampled 1,040 UK-based 16- to 25-year-olds. It found that 83% would back rejoining the EU in a future referendum
Campaign groups were quick to respond. European Movement UK said the results demonstrate the need to take young people’s views seriously: “Young people are the future – it’s time we listen to them and ensure that future generations are not held back by the disastrous decision to cut our ties with the EU.”
Leeds for Europe said: “The kids are alright…”
Others commenting on the findings argued that the numbers reflect not only strong pro-European sentiment among young voters but also shifting demographics more broadly. Some pointed out that many older voters who backed leaving the EU in 2016 will be no longer alive, suggesting that the balance of opinion in the country may now look very different, and that the case for another referendum is strengthening.
Yet the poll’s findings are unlikely to be welcomed by the pro-Brexit press, which has recently intensified its criticism of Keir Starmer over his efforts to reset relations with Brussels.
This week, the PM urged for closer links with the EU, saying Britain is “turning its back” on the Brexit years.
He warned that the split with the EU had left the UK unable to use its influence internationally.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Starmer said: “That has seen a Britain that has turned inward, a Britain that has not been able to assert itself and influence others on the world stage or the European stage.”
He also said the UK should more closely align with the EU economically as well as on defence.
He argued the UK should “move closer to the single market” in certain markets, where it was in the interest of both sides.
Predictably, parts of the right-wing press reacted with panic.
‘PM secretly plotting to lock us back into EU,’ splashed the Express’s front page on February 17.
It follows a series of recent Express front pages, squawking alarm over a potential EU return.
“PM wants to ‘rewind’ freedom Brexit gave us,” the front page screamed on February 2, implying Brexit delivered concrete freedoms, and Keir Starmer is now plotting to snatch them away.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again; the newspaper didn’t earn its “Brexpress “ nickname for no reason.
And no wonder they’re panicking, as Britain’s younger generation, those who will live longest with the consequences of Brexit, appear overwhelmingly open to reversing it.
Image credit: ITV Youth Tracker – Facebook screen grab
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