Europe is now a bigger concern for Britain than immigration

By THE DATA TEAM

FOR the first time in two decades the European Union is the biggest concern for voters, according to the July 2016 Economist/Ipsos MORI issues index. Ever since the referendum on EU membership was announced, Europe has been an increasingly important issue for Brits. But after the referendum result, worries about Europe jumped to their highest level since 1997 and, in doing so, overtook fears about health care and immigration.

In the build-up to the referendum Remain campaigners were hopeful that a new surge in registrations would help their cause. Many of the new voters were young and, supposedly, more likely to plump for Britain to stay in the EU. But data from the Electoral Commission reveals that, in the first six months of this year, those registering to vote were more likely to hail from Eurosceptic areas than Europhile ones. Small wonder the Brexiters won by a margin of more than 1m voters.