Are British people Eurosceptic?

Following the Brexit vote.

The Guardian reported on family arguments concerning in or out voting decisions.

Indeed commentators have reported a generational pattern in voting.  BBC analysis showed 73% of 18-24 year olds voted remain compared to 40% of over 65.

while the

FT blog showed that areas with a younger population typically had a lower turnout which might explain the out victory.

The Pew Research Center Global Attitudes  2016 survey of  citizens in European nations

found that in most European nations young people had a more favourable view of the EU than older citizens,  but in many cases nations as a whole were experiencing a sharp dip in public support for EU membership amongst their citizens

Questions regarding British attitudes towards European are not new.

In 2008 Charles Grant,  Center for European Reform,  published an article entitled: Why is Britain Eurosceptic? which gave 4 answers . Download the text to see what they were!

European Sources Online has a great guide to historic key sources on Euroscepticism. This was  produced in 2015and highlights key documents and organisations taken from its resources . You can also keep up to date on the latest news and links to official EU and commentator documents by searching the main website

Key resources for tracing historic trends of British towards Europe can be found in the Eurobarometer public opinion polls conducted by the European Commission.The standard polls regularly measure levels of trust in the EU and perceptions of EU image. Data is available for individual nations allowing long term tracing of trends.

Eurobarometer levels of trust image of EU in European nations.

The most recent standard barometer was issued in  November 2015 and makes interesting reading as it shows a majority of British people interviewed thought Britain would be better outside the EU.

Older materials can be accessed via UK data Archive from 1974 onwards. The Data Archive blog has also produced an excellent on other key datasets which it can make available to researchers.