Exposing the myth that our oldest living generation supports Brexit
Many pro-Brexit campaigners have a misty-eyed nostalgia for the Second World War. People who lived through it, though, don’t necessarily feel the same way, says David Barnett
The perceived wisdom is that Brexit is a war fought on generational lines, with younger people broadly in favour of remaining in Europe, and older people generally pro-Leave.
And the data would back that up. Under-25s were more than twice as likely in the 2016 Referendum to vote Remain, at 71 per cent, than leave (29 per cent). With the over-65s, however, 64 per cent voted to Leave with 36 per cent voting Remain.
However, there’s a problem here with lumping the “over-65s” into one category, because that combines two distinct generational cohorts here, those known colloquially as the Baby Boomers, and those who lived through the Second World War.
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