‘No One I Know Voted To Leave’

A few days ago, I attended a small dinner party of very pleasant people, all of them of the more-or-less intellectual middle class. As the referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union was then only three weeks away, it was almost inevitable that it should come up as a subject of conversation.

“I don’t know anyone who’ll vote for Brexit,” said one of the guests.

I have no idea whether or not this statement was literally true, whether he really didn’t know anyone who would vote for Brexit, but its truth or falsity was in any case beside the point. More often than not, we speak not to enunciate a truth but to praise ourselves, or to exhibit ourselves to others in the best light possible. Of course, that also means that we have to be aware of the sensibilities of our audience; therein lies one of the hazards of human intercourse.

At the time my fellow guest made his proud announcement, the polls suggested—though they might have been wrong, as they often…