The Brexit debate has seemingly shed light on a yawning chasm between those who supported remaining in the European Union, and those supporting leaving it.  In the 3.5 years between the referendum vote and the country officially leaving the EU, little progress has been made in bridging this apparent divide and bringing the country together again.

It’s a challenge that new research from the University of Bath suggests might not be quite as difficult as previously thought.  Indeed, they argue that leavers and remainers may have more in common than they think.

The researchers quizzed people from both sides of the debate on a range of topics, and found that they tended to agree around 90% of the time, regardless of whether the topics involved climate change, poverty, housing or life satisfaction.

Common ground

What’s more, this common ground even appeared to be present on some of the more divisive topics, such as immigration and national identity.  Even on these topics, people would agree around 50% of the time, suggesting that there is a hope of bringing the country together over the coming years.

“It has been claimed the EU referendum of June 2016 revealed a divided, rather than a United Kingdom, with growing tensions among those who voted ‘leave’ and those who voted ‘remain’,” the researchers say.  “Previous research has concentrated on the differences between the two sides, but our study shows that in fact there is more to unite them than divide them.”

What’s more, the researchers believe their findings could help to boost social cohesion, especially if more reporting of the two camps emphasizes their similarities rather than their differences.

“Many people seem to be worried about an increasingly fractious society and therefore it is encouraging to see that people are actually quite similar,” the authors conclude. “Realising that fact seems to have a positive effect on bringing people together again.”