Brexit tribes: Are you a Re-Leaver?
UK no longer divided simply into Brexiters and Remainers, says YouGov poll
They call themselves the "48 per cent", but anti-Brexit activists may be more alone than they realise, according to new data, which suggests almost half of Remain voters back Brexit.
Who are the 'Re-Leavers'?
According to a study by polling firm YouGov, 23 per cent of former Remain voters believe the government has a duty to carry out the will of the people - even if many still believe leaving the EU is the wrong decision - while only 22 per cent still want to see Brexit halted.
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Combined with the 45 per cent of respondents who voted Leave and are still confident in their decision, the survey indicates that more than two-thirds of the electorate favour leaving the EU, even though some think it is a mistake to do so.
What does it mean for the general election?
YouGov's polll "breaks the myth that almost half the country are desperate to see the referendum result blocked", says the Daily Mail - and that has significant ramifications for next month's snap general election.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats had hoped to pick up the Remain vote, but "when it comes to the Re-Leavers, the Tories secure 45 per cent of the vote and have a 10-point lead over Labour", the Financial Times reports.
To put it another way: "Conservatives are fishing in a massive lake, while the other parties are casting their rods into a pond," says YouGov.
"Ukip stands to lose the most from this migration," says the Huffington Post, but Labour also stands to lose "a significant number of votes" to the Tories.
What are the other Brexit tribes?
The Re-Leavers join other newly created "tribes" which have emerged as the Brexit debate reshapes the UK's political landscape.
Hard Leavers: There's no like-for-like deal on trade or borders for these voters, hardline Leavers will only be content with a clean break from Brussels.
Although they were considered fringe radicals in the run-up to the referendum, "Brextremists" have since hijacked the process, The Guardian's Polly Toynbee claimed earlier this year.
"Before the referendum they said we’d stay in the single market and customs union," she said. "Now the fanatics go much further, normalising the notion of no deal at all."
With its original purpose now on its way, Ukip is attempting to carve out a niche as the party of the Hard Leavers, with leader Paul Nuttall saying the Eurosceptic party is still needed to prevent Tory "backsliding" on hard Brexit principles such as leaving the single market and assuming total control of UK borders.
Die-hard Remainers: Often labelled "Remoaners" by their pro-Brexit adversaries, die-hard Remainers believe Brexit can and should be stopped.
The Lib Dems had hoped their strong anti-Brexit stance would draw away millions of Remain voters turned off by Labour's perceived ambivalence on the topic, but that has so far failed to materialise.
The rise of the Re-Leavers "explains why the Liberal Democrats have struggled to make a breakthrough in what would seem like favourable conditions", says the Financial Times.
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