Britain is once more a country for old men who are now acquitted and found "Not Guilty" of Brexit

New research from the University of Warwick finds that many popular theories about Brexit are wrong and it was caused by 'feelings' and that the old men and women who voted are not to blame.

Using new data, the researchers have shown that it was people’s feelings about their own finances that led to Brexit. In fact :

* There was little difference in the voting views of 35 year olds, 55 year olds, and 75 year olds and only the very young were heavily 'Remain.'

* The 'Leave' vote did not happen because of generalised unhappiness in the country.

* There were no particularly large voting differences between ‘white British’ and other citizens.

* There was no statistically significant influence from either being unemployed, being married, having children, or living in a rural area.

The key predictor of someone’s Brexit vote was : their deep-down feelings about their own finances - whether they felt they were :

* managing comfortably
* doing OK
* just about getting by
* having some - or extreme - difficulty

Professor Andrew Oswald from the University of Warwick’s 'Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economic', one of the study’s authors, said : “People’s feelings about how their own wallet had been performing, determined how they voted. I am not sure Brexit was greatly about principle. It was more a cry of financial pain.”

All over Britain old men can heave a sigh of relief. They are off the hook because the new Warwick research adds to a small but growing academic literature on the probable reasons for Brexit and whereas previous work has emphasised the role of regional and educational influences, it hasn't examined citizens’ psychology or deep feelings. 

The Paper : http://ftp.iza.org/dp11059.pdf