this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2024
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UK Politics

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General Discussion for politics in the UK.
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[–] TheTechnician27 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

I agree with the idea that the UK should foster closer ties with the EU (and that they should rejoin), but this poll seems really badly formed. Respondents were given four options:

  • Getting a free trade agreement with the USA (28%)
  • A closer trading relationship with the EU (49%)
  • Don't know (21%)
  • Prefer not to say (2%)

So it presents two main options which 1) are not mutually exclusive and more importantly 2) represent a false dichotomy. Despite this, there is no option for "Neither", "Both", or "Other" – instead just "Don't know". Given people in the UK have had nearly a decade to develop strong opinions on trade with the EU after it came to the fore with Brexit, the pretty large 21% "Don't know" seems to reflect that a lot of people whose vote would have said "Neither" probably fell into "Don't know". The option about the EU is extremely vague about a "closer trading relationship" which could mean a million different things to different people, while the one about the US is strictly "a free trade agreement".

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] TheTechnician27 3 points 2 weeks ago

It really does have an interesting parallel, doesn't it?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

Has anyone in US said they are interested in free trade either with UK or EU? Last time it was dangled for UK, it got cancelled.