Voters supporting a final say on Brexit deal nudges ahead for first time

More Britons now support a second referendum than those who do not, according to a new YouGov survey.

Of 1,653 adults asked whether there should be a second referendum on the the terms of the Brexit deal, 42 per cent said there should, while 40 per cent said there should not. The rest did not know.

YouGov first floated the question in April 2017, using the same wording, and the results were starkly different: only 31 per cent were behind the idea of a second referendum, compared with 48 per cent who wanted to stick with the vote on 23 June 2016, in which the UK voted to leave the bloc by 52 per cent compared with 48 per cent for Remain.

A large bulk (two thirds) of the 42 per cent were Remain voters while the same proportion also made up the Leave voters that opposed a second referendum.

Read more: Brexit: German interior minister says Chequers deal is "very appealing"

The shift in public opinion comes amid widespread discontent with the deal hashed out by the prime minister at Chequers, in which a "soft Brexit" is on the table. The UK would effectively stay in the single market for goods, but not services, and agree to collect tariffs on behalf of the EU.

The deal forced the resignation of both the then Brexit secretary David Davis, who said he "did not believe" in the deal, saying it made the UK weaker, as well as the foreign secretary at the time, Boris Johnson.

Last night the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier stressed his opposition to key pillars of May's plan. He said the EU "can not and will not delegate the application of its customs union policy and rules, VAT and excise duty collection to a non-member".

Read more: EU negotiator Barnier pours cold water on May's customs plan

[contf] [contfnew]

CityAM

[contfnewc] [contfnewc]