Despite the views of the right-wing press, the British people still want a Final Say on Brexit

Judging by the polling evidence, a small but consistent majority of people favour a second referendum to resolve the current crisis over Britain’s relationship with Europe. The divergence between this and the house views of most traditional media outlets is quite striking.

Of the national titles, only The Independent has given its unequivocal support to such an outcome, although The Guardian has come close with its call for “people’s assemblies” that it admitted could very well lead to a fresh poll. The remainder have either backed May’s deal, with more or less tepidity, or a no deal – with the exception of the Daily Mirror, which is in tune with the Labour leadership’s desire for a general election that probably won’t resolve anything and, as things stand, is unlikely to happen.

The London-centric media is often said to be “out of touch” with the world outside the M25. I’d suggest that the gulf has seldom been as wide as it is today, at least on this issue. Whichever way you look at it, the views of such a substantial portion of the British population have one only one, or perhaps two, outlets in what one might describe as the mainstream media.

That could be considered worrying. It surely can’t be a good thing at such a polarised time that such a substantial portion of the population is being ignored by the majority of Her Majesty’s press – even though it is probably true that many if not most readers of the right-leaning titles (including The Sun, the Daily Express, the Daily Mail and the The Daily Telegraph) would, on balance, reject a Final Say referendum on Theresa May‘s Brexit deal.

It might, for example, help to explain why the prime minister feels she can refer to what “the British people want” when a little over half of them clearly don’t want what she wants. In fact it’s substantially more than half when people are specifically asked about her dismal deal.

Or maybe the PM is simply, as the wonderful Captain Ska accused in its chart smash, a “Liar Liar”? Her last-ditch attempt to persuade MPs to back her deal certainly gave weight to that accusation. It backfired after a pre-briefed extract of her speech contained a false claim about a previous referendum. More than two decades ago, the public vote held on the creation of a Welsh Assembly was backed by a small majority. After being elected to parliament in 1997, she nonetheless voted against a bill that sought to implement the result.

On the other hand, you could consider the situation as rather refreshing. Despite – or perhaps even because of – a relentless stream of hysterical headlines railing against the EU, accusing MPs of plotting coups when exercising the parliamentary sovereignty this was all supposed to be about, and declaring judges who insist ministers follow the law to be “enemies of the people”, the people seem unmoved.

They certainly have a rather better understanding of democracy than the fourth estate, whose job it is to defend it. That they’ve proved willing and able to formulate their own views, even though they conflict with a sizeable majority of those found within the non-broadcast media, is welcome.

But perhaps the traditional media just isn’t as influential as it thinks. It’s worth noting the latest Pindex video on Brexit voiced by Stephen Fry, another supporter of a people’s vote, went live today. The first went viral with more than 1.3 million views and counting. The aforementioned Captain Ska is set to join in with a follow up to “Liar Liar” advocating a referendum on Wednesday.

Don’t like what you see in the papers (or on their websites)? There are alternatives. Being employed by the one outlet to consistently go against the grain over a second referendum certainly feels good to me.

Whether enough MPs will be swayed remains to be seen. They are mostly from generations that still take the views of the traditional media rather more seriously than their children do. They should have a care, though. If the polls, and The Independent are right, they’ll be at odds with the electorate if they don’t give it a Final Say.

They’ll not be thanked if they pay heed to the media over it and it all ends it tears, as looks all too likely.