Exposing the myth that our oldest living generation supports Brexit

Many pro-Brexit campaigners have a misty-eyed nostalgia for the Second World War. People who lived through it, though, don’t necessarily feel the same way, says David Barnett

An anti-Brexit protester at Castlefield Bowl, Manchester, as part of the Reject Brexit-Defend Our Democracy protest (PA)

The perceived wisdom is that Brexit is a war fought on generational lines, with younger people broadly in favour of remaining in Europe, and older people generally pro-Leave.

And the data would back that up. Under-25s were more than twice as likely in the 2016 Referendum to vote Remain, at 71 per cent, than leave (29 per cent). With the over-65s, however, 64 per cent voted to Leave with 36 per cent voting Remain.

However, there’s a problem here with lumping the “over-65s” into one category, because that combines two distinct generational cohorts here, those known colloquially as the Baby Boomers, and those who lived through the Second World War.