A leave voter in Romford (HERE) when asked recently about Brexit says, “I’m bored of it. I’m bored, bored, bored of it", which confirms the findings of a YouGov poll (HERE) suggesting a "majority of both Leavers and Remainers say they find news about Brexit boring". Only 10% of people admit to following news reports about Brexit "closely".
This for me sums up a lot of the problem and answers the question about why the polls are shifting to remain only very marginally. Having voted, most leavers have washed their hands of it. Millions of people are worried about their future and their children's future, thousands of civil servants are wrestling with massive and far reaching constitutional and legal changes, companies are concerned and many have stopped investment altogether. Politicians argue about it constantly. Other big and pressing issues have been sidelined.
But the people who caused it? They're now bored with the consequences and have forgotten all about it.
This for me sums up a lot of the problem and answers the question about why the polls are shifting to remain only very marginally. Having voted, most leavers have washed their hands of it. Millions of people are worried about their future and their children's future, thousands of civil servants are wrestling with massive and far reaching constitutional and legal changes, companies are concerned and many have stopped investment altogether. Politicians argue about it constantly. Other big and pressing issues have been sidelined.
But the people who caused it? They're now bored with the consequences and have forgotten all about it.
The BBC, again to mark the halfway point of the Article 50 process, last week went to Coventry to "find out" what ordinary voters think of Brexit so far. It's the kind of thing TV companies, particularly the BBC, do when faced with a contentious issue. I confess I have difficulty understanding what we are supposed to learn from these events. Take a group of voters, in this case a balance of leavers and remainers, put them in a room together and film them talking about a topic they obviously know nothing about. I don't believe even 10% of them had been following news reports at all.
It was like being a researcher and watching mice trying to solve a Rubik's cube.
Next month, a bunch of chimney sweeps from Neath will discuss quantum mechanics. Should be compulsive viewing. We'll learn nothing about quantum mechanics but an awful lot about ignorance.
