FIFTY-NINE PERCENT of Conservative party members would be willing to let Northern Ireland leave the United Kingdom in exchange for delivering Brexit.
A recent poll showed that over half of 892 members surveyed said they’d be happy with the effective breakup of the UK, if it meant getting Brexit over the line.
The survey, carried out by YouGov, ultimately shows that most Tory party members are so committed to delivering Brexit that very little else matters to them at this point.
So eager are they to stop Jeremy Corbyn from becoming Prime Minister that members suggested they would rather see, not only the dismantlement of the UK in the face of the Brexit, but also the destruction of the Conservative party itself and indeed ‘significant damage’ to the British economy too.
62% of voters said they would be happy to see Scotland leave in order to secure Brexit, while 59%, as mentioned before, said the same about Northern Ireland.
The Good Friday Agreement makes these results totally hypothetical, however. Any decision for Northern Ireland to leave the UK and form a united Ireland must be approved by the electorate in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland as well.
Calls for a united Ireland have been making traction in the wake of the UK’s Brexit referendum, particularly with the fate of the Northern Irish border still up in the air.
Separately though, it’s interesting to see just how keen Tory members are to not only keep Corbyn out of Downing Street at all costs, but also to deliver Brexit at all costs.
The YouGov study also showed that Conservative members feel they have more in common with supporters of rival parties who share their view on Brexit than they do with fellow Tory party members whose views on Brexit differ from theirs.
YouGov’s Matthew Smith said: “Conservative members are not just ideologically committed to Brexit - they also genuinely believe that the failure to deliver on the result of the 2016 referendum will bring about the destruction of the party’s electoral chances.
“Indeed, half of members believe that Britain ending up staying in the EU after all would damage the party to the extent that it will never lead a government again, and another 29% think it would put the party out of power for multiple elections to come. By contrast, most members believe that successfully bringing about Brexit will win the Tories at least the next election.”
Tory party members will of course go to the polls in the next month to appoint their next party leader, and indeed the next Prime Minister of the UK.
So committed to Brexit are members of the Conservative and Unionist Party that they would be willing to see Scotland (63%) and Northern Ireland (59%) leave the UK in order to secure it. https://t.co/9iJKlB292v pic.twitter.com/4j7bCPg6aK
— YouGov (@YouGov) June 18, 2019
