The great irony of the Brexit tragedy is that the Leave vote has very little to do with the EU and much to do with the UK's domestic politics, in particular the impact of austerity spending cuts on already deprived areas. A report this week from the Social Market Foundation builds on earlier research from Warwick University late last year finding that had austerity not happened, the Leave vote could have been 9% lower. It argues that those areas most negatively affected by globalisation in the form of lower wages, collapse of manufacturing, zero hours and loss of skilled jobs, ought to be compensated by the welfare state.
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