Mar 21st 2016, 15:20 by The Data Team

AS ISLAND dwellers, it is hard for the British not to think in an insular way. Brexit (the prospect of Britain departing from the European Union) is a major talking point around dinner tables of Blighty, so the same must surely be true on the continent? Or so the thinking goes. Yet poll results from Lord Ashcroft—a Tory bigwig turned pollster—reveals a surprising degree of indifference on Europe’s mainland. Although around half of Europeans would prefer Britain to stay in the Union, over a quarter simply do not care. The apathy is strongest among women (32% are not bothered either way) and the young (30% of 24-34 year-olds).

Smaller countries also tend to care less about Brexit, perhaps because they are less concerned about the geopolitical consequences. Even in Germany and France, two giants of the European project, the share of people who are not concerned about Britain’s future is roughly as high as those who feel passionately about it. The results of other polling from Lord Ashcroft, this time concerning outside opinion of the UK, can offer some clues about the uninterested countries. Some 20% of Austrians and 38% of Slovenians—two of the countries where apathy is at its highest—have negative views about Brits, above the continental average of 10%. Perhaps the shoulder-shrugging states are masking harder beliefs.