The majority of Britain’s voters rate Brexit as a “big disappointment” and would have it reversed if a new referendum was held today, the UK’s leading pollster has claimed.
Sir John Curtice, a University of Oxford academic with decades of polling experience, has said the decision to leave the European Union has “not withstood the test of time”. He has claimed a “modest majority” of people would see the decision reversed after blaming it for destabilising the economy and opening up the country to more immigration.
In a new book, he said a “significant body of voters” have decided that being an outsider of the bloc is “not worth it”, as the latest figures show net support for the rejoin movement reaching its highest in years.
View 4 ImagesSir John Curtice said Brexit has lost its support(Image: Getty Images)
Writing in ‘The Brexit Effect’ by Sir Anthony Seldon, he said: “The 2016 referendum has failed to resolve the debate about whether Britain should be inside or outside the EU. The country now finds itself outside an institution of which a modest majority at least would like to be a member.
“For the time being at least, a significant body of voters have decided that being outside the EU is not worth it.” Mr Curtice’s claim is backed by the latest research from YouGov, which found support for the rejoin effort increasing significantly.
A poll of 4,067 adults taken by the polling agency between May 20 and 22 this year found that the rejoin movement was backed by 56 percent of respondents, divided between 36 percent who “strongly support” and 20 percent who “somewhat support”. The proportion of people who oppose has declined with it.
View 4 ImagesA large number of people support rejoining the EU(Image: Getty Images)
YouGov found just 35 percent of people opposed to rejoining the EU, divided between 10 percent who “strongly oppose” and another 25 percent who “somewhat oppose”.
Only 10 percent of people said they didn’t know whether they would like the UK to rejoin. The issue of rejoining the EU has been relitigated in recent weeks after Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, said he would have the UK become a member once more if he became Labour leader.
He insisted in mid-May during a surprise statement: “Leaving the European Union was a catastrophic mistake. It’s left us less wealthy, less powerful, and less in control than at any point before the industrial revolution.”
View 4 ImagesThe number of people opposing Brexit has fallen to just over 30 percent(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The issue has not found support among other Labour prospective leaders, however, including Andy Burnham, who is currently campaigning to become the next Makerfield MP. While he said leaving the EU was “damaging” he insisted the “last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments”.
Keir Starmer’s embattled Government has said it is opposed to rejoining the bloc, instead favouring a “reset” in relations, with a key summit pursuing that end set to take place in July.