MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Brexit dominates politics and has left England “deeply polarized”, says major report
England has become more tolerant and open on the whole but Brexit has left the country “deeply polarized”, a major new report concludes. The study identifies a softening in attitudes towards immigration and finds that two-fifths of the population (39%) have liberal outlooks – compared with 22% six years ago. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesI presume that this survey reflects the position in England only....unless we are using the usual England for Britain.
Aug 31st, 2017 - 12:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I looked at their website and it does appear they only surveyed people in England. Since Scotland voted so differently their results would probably not apply there. Still, I'd be interested to know if you think you fit into one of their 'tribes':
Aug 31st, 2017 - 01:26 pm - Link - Report abuse -2http://hopenothate.org.uk/fear-hope-tribes/
And The Voice, if you see this, do any of them sound like you?
Perhaps we should describe the goings-on in Venado Tuerto when we might more properly mean to cover the Argentine news.
Aug 31st, 2017 - 02:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0D.T.
Aug 31st, 2017 - 05:26 pm - Link - Report abuse 0According to N.A., I belong to the Gorilla tribe who really don't give a toss as it is beyond their limited mental capability to think of anything except where the next banana is coming from. As this was the case, I did not vote in the referendum.
As the banana is not in real commercial cultivation in the EU, with the exception of Crete and possibly Cyprus, it doesn't really affect me !
Taking off my silverback Gorilla mantle, I would put myself in the culturally concerned.
This probably is the group with which most 70+ people would identify.
I suspect NA probably belongs to the tribe who live under bridges and eat billy goats.
Aug 31st, 2017 - 10:49 pm - Link - Report abuse -2Culturally concerned makes sense. I'd say I'm closest to the mainstream liberals, but I don't think everyone I know belongs to one of these. It would be interesting to see if the avid Brexiters on here think they fit into one of the groups.
”More than half (54%) of 18 to 24-year-olds feel represented by Jeremy Corbyn, compared with just 18% of over-65s, who are most likely to identify with Mrs. May (42%);”
Sep 01st, 2017 - 10:41 am - Link - Report abuse +2Surprise, surprise - or not.
This just confirms the old proverb:
If you aren't a socialist at 18, then you are heartless.
If you are a socialist at 36, then you are brainless.
Newspapers and political wonks love to classify folk into groupings. I was asked, I voted for what I believed in for many many years, the majority agreed with me. Strange that?
Sep 01st, 2017 - 05:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Lots of younger folk voted out too because they experienced what I believed - housing prices driven up by uncontrolled immigration, public housing occupied by immigrants with large families, wages depressed by uncontrolled immigration. If you talk to young tradesmen this is what they will tell you. And like me they are classified as DM readers by brainless liberals who rarely talk to people out of their own narrow orbit. The current negotiations show exactly what the Germans and French think of us.
We do need leadership, its sadly missing at the moment. Talking to lots of various Europeans at a music festival yesterday, very interesting, many are unhappy with the EU. I am off to 4 European countries next week. I shall talk to people...
@TV
Sep 01st, 2017 - 05:45 pm - Link - Report abuse -4Do you ever consider how alike you are to the people you call 'brainless liberals'?
You mostly only talk to people who agree with you; you dismiss those who disagree with you as idiots. You don't like to consider that people may have good reasons to think differently to you.
It's funny to see how similar people are despite thinking they're so different. Liberals and conservatives both like to think themselves superior, Americans are just as susceptible to populism as Argentines are. I've learned a lot by getting out of the infamous bubble.
DT you seem to know me better than I know myself. I have never said I dont talk to people who hold opposing views and I dont think the majority of them are idiots. I believe many lead sheltered lives, in the public sector and jobs where you dont get your hands dirty. Grafters. What an arrogant attitude, shows clearly how little you understand? Have you ever done a job where you get your hands dirty and mix with all sorts - evidently not. You are in your own little bubble for sure, you reek of it.
Sep 01st, 2017 - 06:26 pm - Link - Report abuse 0What I would find of interest is whether it's the EU Commission and politicians who are anti-UK OR are the populations of the various member states equally hostile.
Sep 01st, 2017 - 08:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The Commission have a vested interest in hanging on to power as they would be dumped in the real world, so they are exercising as much power as they can.
Is it in their interest to give us a kicking OR would the Empire strike back ?
I have noticed that my wife is now choosing home produced foodstuffs against Spanish produced veg. This is not political but on the basis of price.
@TV
Sep 01st, 2017 - 09:01 pm - Link - Report abuse -4You don't say that, but you do say all your Scottish friends are pro-union, that the British people you speak to are pro-Brexit, and even when you speak to Europeans they agree with you in being unhappy with the EU.
What I haven't seen you mention is friends with different views to yours, and whether you discussed the issues with them. Have you?
And when you say “And like me they are classified as DM readers by brainless liberals who rarely talk to people out of their own narrow orbit,” it sure sounds like you think the 'other side' are idiots.
I think it's kind of arrogant to accuse other people of leading sheltered lives, too. Do you think nurses don't get their hands dirty, are policemen sheltered? My friend who's a teacher got beaten up by one of his pupils, and they deal with children from all different backgrounds. I've worked in the public and private sector and they both have a variety of jobs, some where you get your hands dirty and some where you work with the public, others not.
I think it's true that most people are in a bubble to some extent. We all hang out with people we get on with, and generally that means people with similar views. That's why I tried to find sites where people disagreed with me; it's one of the reasons I started posting here. And as I said, the attitudes are like looking in a mirror. It's made me reexamine my own views and see the people who agree with me differently too.
@Clyde15
I don't think either are truly anti-UK in the majority. The commission is interested in preserving the EU, so they will try and punish the UK if it helps that aim. It's not obvious if it WILL help though.
As for the people, I think many are just sick of hearing about it and want the whole process to be over. Places I hang out (online) it is a pretty much a given among foreigners that we are doing a very stupid thing and Britain has become the butt of jokes, but they don't hate us for it. I expect those are mostly young people though.
Failure to confront and talk about certain issues is a characteristic of the floppy left, and Corbyn and his cohort are masters of it.
Sep 02nd, 2017 - 07:22 am - Link - Report abuse 0Some Europeans do seem to think we are nuts, some of my German friends in particular. They have seen massive cross border invasions going back to when the wall came down, Ossies and Poles in particular. Their attitude is 'we are used to this, why shouldnt you have some?' But, they do still like us. Its regretable that we are polarised on this issue, but it was practically a 50 50 vote. Like your acquaintances I will be glad when the divorce is finalised and we can forge ahead unfettered by the swathes of Eurocrap we currently suffer.
By 'floppy left', do you mean the hard left like Corbyn? And what issues are he/they failing to confront?
Sep 02nd, 2017 - 10:43 am - Link - Report abuse -4And I want to add that no, I don't know you. I only know what you post on here. If you do have friends who think we are nuts, why do they think that? If you like, I can tell you the reasons the few people I know who voted leave did so.
The 'ossies' are an interesting case because they are all Germans, they speak the same language, and the country was only divided for 41 years, but the reintegration still caused a lot of social and economic problems. Even this originally artificial division created two groups who ended up regarding each other with suspicion and forming stereotypes about the other.
My acquaintances who want the divorce to be finalised are actually the ones who seem to dislike Britain the most. Their attitude is that Britain was always a pain in the arse who got better deals than every other country but still complained constantly, and they are sick of our bullshit and want us gone. But as I said, I think a lot of that is because they are just fed up of hearing about Brexit and our politicians blaming everything on Europe.
Anyway, it's not surprising to me that you found Europeans who dislike the EU. I could tell you the things I find objectionable, and each country has its own complaint: Germany that they have to keep paying to bail out the other countries, Greece that the austerity measures required by Germany have wrecked their economy for the foreseeable future, France that the EU is too neo-liberal and is ruining their worker protections... But disliking the EU is not the same as wanting to leave it. I can't see any other countries following us in the near future.
The question is why is this piece appearing in Mercopenguin, a British government propaganda organ supposedly devoted to America, South America and the “South Atlantic”?
Sep 02nd, 2017 - 05:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Clown ( oops Cloon ) If you don't like the content then don't bother to read and comment on it.
Sep 03rd, 2017 - 10:18 am - Link - Report abuse 0Wow, four people downvoted my last comment but not one had the courage of their convictions to reply and say what it is they disagree with. Disappointing.
Sep 03rd, 2017 - 02:13 pm - Link - Report abuse -3Commenting for this story is now closed.
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