Out but not down

No group of the population voted to remain in the EU more enthusiastically than students. According to the polling organisation YouthSight, 85 per cent of them voted to remain, and among the 15 per cent who voted leave, 17 per cent say they now regret it. Moreover, the idea that students were too lazy or drunk to turn out to vote is a gross calumny on the young, according to the survey. It found that 87 per cent of eligible students turned out to vote — compared with 72 per cent of the general population.

What it didn’t reveal is how many students voted more than once. My biggest shock of referendum day — apart from the result itself — was my undergraduate son producing the three polling cards he had accidentally acquired as a result of living in three different student residences. So desperate was the government to increase turnout among the young that it seemed to overlook the problem of people being sent multiple cards.