A clear majority of Brits back leaving the European Union (EU), whether or not a trade deal with the bloc can be reached in two years, and there is little public support for a second referendum, a poll has revealed.
The results of the survey were revealed the day before Britain’s Supreme Court decided Parliament must have a vote on the triggering of Article 50, raising the prospect MPs could hinder the process or push for another public vote on a final deal.
According to the ICM poll for The Guardian, 63 per cent support Prime Minister Theresa May’s assertion that leaving the EU without a trade deal will be better than leaving with a bad deal, and 53 per cent back leaving regardless of what happens.
Only 12 per cent think Parliament should decide on whether Brexit happens based on the outcome of negotiations, and just over a quarter, 26 per cent, back a second referendum on the outcome of negotiations. Nine per cent didn’t know.
Following Tuesday morning’s Supreme Court ruling, the Liberal Democrats confirmed they would be defying the Brexit vote and public opinion by voting against Article 50 and pushing for a second referendum.
The @libdems are clear, we demand a vote of the people on the final deal and without that we will not vote for A50 pic.twitter.com/PQXxncVkUb
— Tim Farron (@timfarron) January 24, 2017
Also this morning, the Labour Party promised to push for amendments on the Brexit bill ensuring the government does not slash business taxes and turn the UK into a tax haven if the EU gives the UK a bad offer.
However, the majority of the British people disagree with 59 per cent thinking the prime minister was right to threaten economic retaliation if the EU plays hardball. Eighteen per cent said Mrs. May was wrong on this point, and 23 per cent didn’t know.
To conduct the poll, ICM interviewed 2,052 over-18s online between the 20th and 22nd of January 2017.
A separate Sky News poll, released at the end of last week, indicated that a majority of voters back the UK leaving the EU Single Market after Mrs. May confirmed she would be leading the UK towards a so-called “hard Brexit” outside of the trading bloc.
“What I am proposing today cannot mean membership of the Single Market”, Mrs. May insisted in the speech on Tuesday, citing membership as incompatible with the British people’s desire to limit EU migration.
A YouGov poll, also released last week, showed that even a majority of Remain supporters want to see Britain regain control of EU immigration, which can not be accomplished if we stay inside the single market.
According to the survey, 74 per cent of respondents said Britain must take control over EU immigration, including 54 per cent of Remain voters.
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