Brexit BritainHalf of Brits Would Choose to Leave UK

An exclusive poll for Byline Times finds only a minority of voters would choose to remain in the UK if given the option to emigrate to another country

Around half of all British people would choose to leave the UK and move themselves and their families to another country, if given the opportunity to do so, according to an exclusive new poll for Byline Times.

As recent polls suggest that most Brits are now unhappy with the direction the UK is headed in, pollsters Omnisis asked voters whether they would now prefer to live abroad.

45% of all respondents said they would take up the opportunity to leave, compared to just 35% who said they wouldn’t.

Once ‘don’t knows’ were excluded, 56% of all respondents said they would emigrate away from Britain if given the chance.

The poll found differing levels of attachment to the UK among voters for each political party.

Liberal Democrats were the most likely to say they would choose to remain in the UK, with just 34% saying they would quit the country. Voters for the Scottish National Party, which endorses Scotland leaving the Union, were the most likely to say they would leave.

Voters were also asked which of a list of 12 countries they would choose to move to, if given the chance. Australia was the most popular choice for Brits to emigrate to, with 29% putting it as their first choice, followed by Spain, Canada and Italy. India, China and Russia were the least popular of the countries listed.

The poll also found that voters in different parts of Britain have widely differing levels of attachment to their British identity.

According to the poll, just 43% of voters would label themselves ‘British’ as their primary identity, as opposed to being either English, Welsh or Scottish. Voters in London and the south-west were the most likely to label themselves as British, with voters in Scotland the least likely.

The findings come as other polling suggests that most Brits have an increasingly gloomy view of the direction the country is now taking.

A poll by Ipsos this week found that 60% of British voters now believe the UK is heading in the wrong direction, compared to just 18% who said the opposite.

The findings tally closely with public perceptions of Brexit. According to Ipsos, 55% believe Brexit has had a negative impact on the country, compared to just 21% who say the opposite.

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