According to a new poll from the Tony Blair Institute timed to coincide with the seventh anniversary of the Brexit referendum, an increasing number of Britons believe the UK made the incorrect decision to leave the EU.
According to a study of 1,525 persons, more than half of those polled regret Brexit, and only 34% thought that leaving the EU was a wise decision.
Furthermore, 78% say that the UK should have a tighter engagement with the EU in the future. Even ‘leave’ voters, 71% of whom favour deeper relations with the bloc, share the sentiment.
43% of those polled want the country to rejoin the EU, while 13% want to stay in the single market. Around 20% favour closer relations with the bloc’s countries, but not as members or members of the single market.
“Our polling shows that a large majority of the British public recognises that Brexit in its current form isn’t working and wants the UK to move closer to the EU.” This creates a significant political space to shift the debate away from refighting old battles over whether Brexit was right or wrong and towards discussing what an improved future relationship with the EU should look like,” Anton Spisak, the institute’s head of political leadership, said in response to the findings.
The EU, according to Spisak, will always be “a key strategic ally” for the UK.
“It is absurd that the bloc has deeper trading relationships with Israel and Georgia, better regulatory recognition on food safety standards with Canada and New Zealand, and deeper political cooperation mechanisms with nations such as Australia and Japan,” he said.
The poll was released as part of a research titled ‘Moving Forward: The Path to a Better Post-Brexit Relationship Between the UK and the EU,’ which examines how the UK and the EU might build a stronger economic relationship. While the report does not expressly propose a return to the EU, it does identify a number of technical proposals that would assist the UK in cooperating with the EU.
