Half of UK citizens think the country will not exist in a decade
More than half of UK citizens think the country will not exist in its current form a decade from now, according to a new poll.
The Ipsos Mori poll showed 50 per cent thought the United Kingdom would not exist in 10 years, up from 43 per cent in 2014. Just 29 per cent said it would exist in its current form in a decade, down from 45 per cent in 2014.
Brexit has put the already fragile Union under extra stress.
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Scotland rejected independence by 55 to 45 per cent in 2014.
However, Scottish National Party leader and the country’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has repeatedly called for another independence referendum on the grounds that Scotland voted to stay in the European Union.
The border between Northern Ireland – which also voted to remain in the EU – and the Republic of Ireland has been a key sticking point in Brexit negotiations and has led to calls for the reunification.
In the shorter term, the fate of the union – which traces its history back to the 1707 Treaty of Union – was also uncertain: 42 per cent said the UK would exist in five years’ time and 44 per cent said it would not.
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“The British public are now much more divided in their expectations of the Union’s future than they were in 2014, when the Union’s future was under intense debate with Scotland just three months away from an independence referendum,” said Emily Gray, Managing Director of Ipsos MORI Scotland.
“With independence a key faultline in Scotland’s election debate, the findings will be concerning for those who want Scotland to remain in the Union, while those campaigning for an independent Scotland will hope that this is a continuing trend.”
Ipsos MORI interviewed a sample of 1,001 adults aged 18+ across Britain on Oct. 25-28.