British public opinion on Brexit: Controversies and contradictions

TY - JOUR

T1 - British public opinion on Brexit

T2 - Controversies and contradictions

AU - Vasilopoulou, Sofia

AU - Talving, Liisa

N1 - © European Consortium for Political Research 2018. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.

PY - 2019/3

Y1 - 2019/3

N2 - What does Brexit really mean? We examine what people expect from the Brexit deal, highlighting three key findings. First, while trade is the key policy priority among the British electorate, opinion is divided on whether the UK should leave the customs union. Second, the public is split on the potential trade-off between remaining in the European single market and the ability to control free movement of people across the borders. Third, Britons are opposed to sharing welfare benefits with others, but tend to support EU citizens living, working and doing business in the UK. However, they expect greater access to welfare for UK citizens in European countries compared to EU citizens in the UK.

AB - What does Brexit really mean? We examine what people expect from the Brexit deal, highlighting three key findings. First, while trade is the key policy priority among the British electorate, opinion is divided on whether the UK should leave the customs union. Second, the public is split on the potential trade-off between remaining in the European single market and the ability to control free movement of people across the borders. Third, Britons are opposed to sharing welfare benefits with others, but tend to support EU citizens living, working and doing business in the UK. However, they expect greater access to welfare for UK citizens in European countries compared to EU citizens in the UK.

KW - Brexit

KW - Euroscepticism

KW - Freedom of movement

KW - Public opinion

KW - Trade

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045253445&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1057/s4130

DO - 10.1057/s4130

M3 - Editorial

SN - 1680-4333

VL - 18

SP - 134

EP - 142

JO - European Political Science

JF - European Political Science

IS - 1

ER -