Brexit: the decision of a divided country.

On the same day that the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU, huge rises in UK death rates were reported. These rises followed the austerity policies enacted by the 2010 coalition government. Self reported health was a key component of David Cameron’s wellbeing index, and it has declined in every year of his premiership, most rapidly towards the end. In March 2016 the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported: “The proportion of people aged 16 and over in the UK who were somewhat, mostly or completely satisfied with their health was lower in the financial year ending 2014 (57.8%) than in the previous year (59.3%). The way in which people view their health is crucial to well-being.” Brandishing the slogan “Vote leave, take control,” the Leave campaign secured 51.9% of the referendum vote. However, 13 million registered voters did not vote, and a further sevenmillion eligible adults were not registered.Theywere disproportionately “the young; flat-dwellers, especially renters; members of ethnic minorities; [and] recent movers.” The outcome of the EU referendum has been unfairly blamed on the working class in the north of England, and even on obesity. However, because of differential turnout and the size of the denominator population, most people who voted Leave lived in the south of England. Furthermore, of all those who voted for Leave, 59% were in the middle classes (A, B, or C1). The proportion of Leave voters in the lowest two social classes (D and E) was just 24%. The Leave voters among the middle class were crucial to the final result because the middle class constituted two thirds of all those who voted. High price of austerity