Almost seven years after the Brexit referendum, more than half of Britons want closer ties with the European Union again. This is according to a poll of 10,000 Britons.
The UK would do well to pursue “a closer relationship with the European Union”. That is the view of 53 per cent of Britons, based on a poll of more than 10,000 people, The Guardian reports. It was commissioned by the pro-EU lobby group ‘Best for Britain’ and conducted by the research firm Focaldata. According to the poll, the majority of Britons would like more rapprochement with Brussels. For 23 per cent, the relationship is fine as it is. Only 14 per cent want even more distance with the EU.
The researchers also looked at the five regions that voted the most pro-Brexit, and there too they saw that the number of people who want to move closer to the EU is double the number who want to move further away from Brussels. For example, in Boston and Skegness, in the Lincolnshire region, almost 75 per cent of respondents voted for Brexit in 2016. Today, 40 per cent say they want to move closer to the EU, compared with 19 per cent who say they want a greater distance.
According to the lobby group, the figures show that sentiment around Brexit has tilted. 63 per cent of those surveyed also said Brexit has created more problems than it would have made life better for Britons.
The survey may have been conducted by an organisation with a clear pro-EU agenda, but the methodology was said to be reliable. It used the MRP (multilevel regression and post stratification) technique, which would make the poll quite accurate.
Under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, an early Brexit supporter, the UK is seeking warmer relations with the EU than under his predecessors Liz Truss and Boris Johnson. However, the poll will be gratefully used by anti-Brexit voices, and will also increase pressure on Labour opposition leader Keir Starmer to take an even more EU-friendly path.
