'Brexit' vote: Grandparents won, young people lost

The British vote to leave the European Union laid bare a yawning age gap, with young people eager to remain and their grandparents rushing to quit.

The nostalgia generation of those over 65 voted 61 per cent to quit, no doubt yearning for the past glories of the prewar Britain that ruled the waves. The 50-64 year olds, went 56 per cent for leave.

But seventy-five per cent of voters 18-24 years of age voted to stay and 56 per cent of the 25-49 year olds did likewise. In other words, the younger generation has gotten used to being able to study and work abroad freely under the E.U. policy of open borders for members. They are used to mingling with European counterparts who have the same opportunity in Britain. Unlike their elders, they feel European and are enthusiastic about a borderless world.

I could see why when I attended an art opening and outdoor party the night before the Brexit vote at Space Studios – an artists cooperative in a large industrial building in a gritty area of the London district of Hackney. Artists and students mingled under under a tent top in the building courtyard, and one could hear French, Spanish and German being spoken.

Jamie Smith, a printmaker from the Scottish Highlands told me a lot of his science student friends were working on research projects being funded by the European Union that operated across borders. "Borders block research," he said. "The British could never do this alone. Think about the European Space Agency, individual countries can't do it." His printmaking studio, he said, "has international artists and that enriches us."

His colleague Peter Smith from Dumfries, Scotland, who was wearing a "we're IN" button added: "The Leave camp is trying to pit us against each other. The EU has guaranteed us the longest peace time that Europe has ever had."​