Politics of the Global Economy "Brexit"

[...]the fifth section discusses the implications of the four possible causes and how they compare to the original thesis. High percentages of older, less-educated, and lower-income people supporting Brexit would support the first possible determinant; high percentages of people supporting national control over the economy and immigration would support the second and third potential factors; and significant amounts of anecdotal evidence about "leave" leaders using anti-immigrant rhetoric or campaign materials, reports of high levels of post-referendum racism and hate crimes, and "anti-immigrant" responses among "leave" voters to particular survey questions about immigration would support the fourth possible motive for Brexit. According to YouGov, among the 3,641 registered voters who said they supported Brexit, 45 percent believed that leaving the EU would simultaneously promote cooperation with other countries and the UK's right to act independently.29 Furthermore, 35 percent believed that exiting the EU would allow for more effective immigration policy and enforcement.30 Similarly, the Survation/IG Group poll revealed that of those registered voters who supported the break with the EU, the two most popular driving factors were controlling immigration levels to the UK (31.7 percent) and sovereignty/control of the lawmaking process (25.8 percent).31 Meanwhile, the ComRes poll listed a series of statements to determine their accuracy in describing voters' motivations. In early June 2016, for example, Farage gave an interview to The Sunday Telegraph and stated that voting "remain" could potentially lead to mass sexual attacks on women by migrant men from Europe and North Africa.37 Such an event had occurred in Cologne, Germany, during New Year's Eve celebrations months earlier.38 Many politicians, including prominent Conservative members of Parliament backing Brexit, sharply criticized Farage for engaging in scaremongering.39 Next, less than two weeks before the vote, Farage unveiled a campaign poster titled "Breaking Point: The EU has failed us all," which urged the UK to control its borders.40 The poster featured a picture of male Syrian refugees on the Slovenian border during the 2015 European migrant crisis and immediately elicited condemnation from the major British political parties for being bigoted and xenophobic.41 Lastly, the "leave" campaign produced a map showing five European countries with large Muslim populations that it claimed were being con