Only three in ten Britons say Brexit is now ‘done’
It’s been over seven years since the EU referendum, and nearly four years since Britain actually left the European Union.
While ‘Bregret’ is rife, there is not an immediate appetite amongst Britons to reverse the decision. Just 26% would say there should referendum on the matter before the end of 2023, with 59% saying there should not be.
However, appetite rises to 39% when asked whether there should be a referendum in the next five years, although 44% still say there should not. When it comes to within the next 10 years, the plurality view becomes that there should be a new EU referendum, with 46% saying there should be compared to 36% saying there should not.
Unsurprisingly, it is Remain voters who are most in favour of a new EU referendum, with 41% saying there should be one this year, 61% saying so within the next five years, and 70% in the next ten years. By contrast, only 8% of Leave voters support a referendum in 2023, 16% think there should be one in the next five years, and 20% within the next ten years.
While Keir Starmer has ruled out rejoining the EU, most Britons who currently intend to vote Labour say there should be another referendum in the next five years (63%) or ten years (69%). Few Tory voters agree, at 13% and 21%, respectively.
Were a vote to be held, our figures suggest the ‘Re-join’ side would likely win, with 50% of Britons saying they would vote to join the European Union, compared to just 30% saying they’d vote to stay out.
This is heavily driven by current Labour voters and 2016 Remain voters, with 78% and 82% respectively saying they’d vote to re-join, compared to just 20% of current Conservative voters and 15% of Leave voters.
Have we got Brexit ‘done’ yet?
While many regret and even want to overturn Brexit, do they think Brexit is ‘done’ in the first place?
There has been a rise in the number of Britons seeing Brexit as ‘done’, but overall, they still think there is more ‘Brexit-ing’ to do. In February of this year, only 18% of people thought Brexit was ‘done’, with 60% saying it is not. Now, this has risen to 30% saying Brexit is complete, although 49% still say it is not.
Most Remain voters say Brexit is not yet done, at 59% to 22%. Leave voters are split, with 40% seeing our exit from the EU as done and dusted, compared to 45% who say it is not yet complete.
YouGov’s tracker data shows that dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of Brexit continues to be very high, with 72% saying they are doing badly. Six in ten (62%) believe Brexit has been more of a failure than a success, and a majority (55%) say we were wrong to vote to leave in the first place.
Photo: Getty
