British people happy to be poorer if it means fewer foreigners, poll shows

Britons who voted Leave in the 23 June referendum are most likely to have voted for reasons concerning immigration.

This is according to a Survation survey for ITN published on Tuesday which found concern about immigration outranked other stated motivations, such as EU corruption, red tape, bailing out countries such as Greece or Portugal and greater trade options.

In order of popularity, here are the options Leave voters selected when asked why they voted as they did, when asked to choose between three.

Also highly valued in the survey was the reasoning that:

Leaving is the only way that the UK can make its own laws and control its destiny.

The least selected reason was that leaving the EU would be the only way to avoid the UK eventually joining the euro while opening up new trade routes was also low down on the list.

During their party conference, the Conservatives were roundly criticised for a proposed policy that stipulated firms would have to use tests to ensure foreign workers do not take jobs "British people could do", and that businesses would be "named and shamed" for publishing the proportion of their workforce that come from overseas.

The party has since u-turned on the policy.

A UN report earlier this week found no evidence that migration contributed to terror attacks, and warned that anti-refugee laws could worsen the risk.

More from the Independent: European migrants are not just paying their way, they're paying our way too