Half of Britons Now Back Rejoining the EU, Polls Suggest
Brexit is back on the agenda as the prime minister talks up closer ties with Brussels. A poll of more than 11,000 people published this month found half of Britons would rejoin and 28% opposed; More in Common’s modelling in June found just 11 of 632 constituencies would vote to stay out. “Sticking with the status quo is not good enough for Britain,” Mr Burnham said this week.
Professor Rob Ford attributes the shift to demographics and buyers’ remorse: “a lot of leave voters have died, bluntly”. The economic argument is sharpening too: National Farmers’ Union analysis of HMRC data shows food and drink exports to the EU down by more than a third since 2019, with sugar down 70%. Not everyone is convinced the numbers would hold. “The question is, how resilient would that be in the face of a referendum campaign?” asks Luke Tryl of More in Common, and one cabinet minister warns: “We don’t want to restoke division.” Brussels may also be wary while a future Reform government could reverse any deal.