First Published: Prospectmagazine.co.uk, 16/06/2016
They are living in a fantasy world
Can anything new be said about the EU referendum debate, especially about the economics? However we carry on, as we must, to try and persuade those undecided or wavering, and to make the case that immigration, and the vacuous notion of “taking back control” are not, and should not, be the all-important factors in a vital referendum.
Public opinion surveys suggest that voters rank immigration and the NHS as more important than the economics of remaining or leaving. When asked, a majority of respondents think the UK economy would be worse off if we left the EU—as the economics community has overwhelmingly and forcefully argued—but at the same time they say they personally do not expect to be. If ever there were a paradox of opinion, this is it. It is a fantasy to think the country will be economically worse off but the electorate will not pay the price….Read more: