Why Left & Right Can’t Agree On Cause Of Brexit

27 September 2016, 14:14

Political expert John Curtice explains why the left and right cannot decide on the main factor behind Britain’s vote to leave the EU.

Curtice, who is Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde told Shelagh Fogarty that both side of the political spectrum have very different takes on the shock Brexit vote.

“What we have to realise is going on here is that there is indeed a bit of argument between the left and the right in Britain as to how to interpret the Brexit vote,” he told Shelagh.

“Those on the left, prefer to argue that is to do with people feeling that economically being left behind by the EU and the pressure of that immigration places on public services.”

“However, there is also a more right wing interpretation which is that at the end of the day many people voted for leaving the EU because they have been persuaded by Nigel Farage, by UKIP, by some of those inside the Conservative party, that indeed the reason why the United Kingdom is experiencing relatively high levels of immigration for the last fifteen years or so is because of our membership of the Europe union, and because of the freedom of movement rules there wasn’t a great deal we could do about it for as long as we are part of the EU.”

“I think the truth is that the left don't particularly like that argument but we need to take both interpretations on board if we are going to have a rounded understanding of what happened on June 23rd.

Matthew Goodwin, Professor of Politics at the University of Kent who co-authored the report 'Brexit vote explained: poverty, low skills and lack of opportunities' also joined the debate with Shelagh. Listen back to it all above.