Britain’s Brexit Divisions Are Never Far Away
The unity on display during the coronavirus could give way to old divisions over debates on whether to extend the Brexit transition.
Will they see eye to eye?
Photographer: Simon Dawson/BloombergSince the Coronavirus outbreak began, the U.K. has seemed more united than at any point in the last few years. The political logjam over Brexit has given way to solidarity against a common, invisible enemy. But beneath the surface, the divisions that defined the past four years persist and may grow as Britain’s transition period runs out.
Even amid the “rally round the flag,” there are still big differences between Remainers and Leavers, making questions over whether to extend the current Brexit transition period beyond this year particularly fraught. For example, while Boris Johnson’s satisfaction ratings were 72% in our recent Number Cruncher poll, this was 87% among Leavers and 57% among Remainers, and the same pattern was in evidence for other questions too.