By Professor Sir Harry Burns, Director of Global Public Health, University of Strathclyde, and former Chief Medical Officer for Scotland.

BRITAIN joined the Common Market on January 1, 1973. No public vote was held. The first public vote on membership of the EU came more than two years later on June 5, 1975. Two-thirds of voters supported continuing membership. Forty-three years later, a second referendum was held because, it was believed, public perceptions of the EU had changed and now some sections of the population thought that continuing membership was not desirable. It seems that some people thought we should leave, so it was permissible to hold another referendum. The fact that the “people had spoken” in 1975 no longer counted. On June 23, 2016 the second referendum on membership was held and we are now negotiating to leave the EU. Because “the people have spoken”, it seems further consideration of the issue cannot be countenanced.

Several things have changed in the time since. Many of the reasons given for leaving have proven to be false. Some of those reasons might even– perish the thought – have been lies. The mess being made of the leaving process shows that there is unlikely to be any positive outcome of Brexit. It has become an exercise in limiting the damage to our economy, our security and the welfare of our people. So, why on earth does Brexit continue to have supporters?

Advocates of Brexit broadly seem to fall in to two groups. First, there are the London elites. One might cynically say that these are the people who feel they can personally profit from Brexit. Where there is political turmoil, there is money to be made and it would be surprising if many of Brexit’s most vociferous supporters have not made appropriate arrangements with their brokers to ensure their investments are protected.

The second, more numerous group of supporters are at the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum. Philip Alston, the United Nations rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, has issued a damning report on the way the UK Government has breached human rights, increased poverty and undermined the wellbeing of the most vulnerable. “For the UK,” Professor Alston said, “poverty is a political choice.” He also suggests that the most disadvantaged will be the most damaged by Brexit. Poor people seem to have been persuaded that their economic plight was in some way due to the EU and he concluded that “ironically it was these very fears and insecurity that contributed significantly to the Brexit vote”.

The UK Government predictably disagrees with Prof Alston’s conclusions. However, for the first time in 110 years, growth in life expectancy has stalled in Britain. Most public health experts point to austerity and cuts in public servers as the probable cause. These data show that Prof Alston is probably correct. The only other country experiencing the same phenomenon is the US where deaths from drugs, alcohol and suicide in middle aged men have increased significantly since 2000. The areas experiencing the greatest rise in these “deaths of despair” were more likely to support Donald Trump in the 2016 election. The Brexit vote seems to have been carried on the shoulders of the alienated poor who have been manipulated by the wealthy who stand to profit most from it.

There is increasing appreciation amongst citizens of the inaccuracy of the information they have been fed, how incompetently the Brexit negotiations are being handled and how damaging it will be to society. These new insights make further consideration imperative. We must protect the most vulnerable in our society. A People’s Vote to consider the true impact of Brexit is essential, giving citizens the option of remaining in the EU.

The author was Chief Medical Officer for Scotland until 2014.