Yahoo News Most Brits are confident Brexit is going to happen - but don't believe leaving the EU will heal divisions
Three quarters of Brits think Brexit will happen this year, but they don’t think leaving Europe will make Britain less divided, research has found.
Ipsos MORI’s 2019 predictions poll found that 75% of UK adults aged 16-75 expect the UK to leave the EU this year.
But the poll of 2,263 people also found that Brits think it’s unlikely Britain will be more harmonious, with 68% of respondents saying society will not be less divided by Brexit in 2019.
Remain voters are particularly pessimistic, with just 17% expecting divisions to heal if Britain leaves Europe, compared to 29% of Leave voters.
Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos MORI, said: “Overcoming some of the divisions and differences in society was a theme of both the Queen’s Christmas broadcast and the Prime Minister’s New Year message.
“Sadly, however, few people on either side of the debate expect British society to become less divided over Brexit in 2019, even though most think that the UK will leave the EU this year – suggesting the divisions the Brexit vote revealed are unlikely to be easily solved, whatever the outcome.
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“Meanwhile, although often overshadowed by other events, economic pessimism grew last year, and the results of this poll show that most expect the value of the pound to fall below the euro in 2019.”
According to the poll, 72% of UK adults said they think a general election is likely in 2019, with six in 10 (58%, rising to 72% of Leave voters) thinking it likely that other countries will follow the UK by holding a vote on leaving the EU.
