Young and old, leavers, remainers: Britain’s voters are volatile and divided – and it’s not just down to Brexit

‘Brexit was hugely significant; it affected politics and public opinion in a number of ways.’ Photograph: Krisztián Elek/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

Sky Sports irritates me. Not its coverage, which is great. But its tendency to imply that football only started in 1992, when the Premier League launched. We risk doing something equally misleading when it comes to politics – tracing everything back to Brexit. The reality, as the recent UK in a Changing Europe report underlines, is somewhat more complex.

None of which is to say that Brexit wasn’t hugely significant. It was – in the language of the British Election Study team – an “electoral shock” that affected politics and public opinion in a number of ways.