European Interest

New survey shows Britons would now vote to stay in EU

Flickr/Bankenverband/CC BY-ND 2.0

The findings of a new survey show that a majority of Britons would vote against Brexit if a new referendum were held today.

Specifically, the survey by polling firm YouGov found that 46% of the 25,000 respondents would vote to remain, 39% would vote to leave, and the rest either did not know, would not vote, or refused to answer the question.

When the undecided and those who refused to answer were removed from the sample, the split was 54-46 in favour of remaining in the European Union.

As reported by the Reuters news agency, this is broadly in line with other polls in recent months which show a deeply divided electorate, in which opinion has swung towards remaining in the EU. The 2016 referendum voted 52% to 48% in favour of leaving.

Meanwhile, on January 6, British Prime Minister Theresa May reiterated her opposition to holding a second referendum, saying it would be divisive and disrespectful to those who voted to leave in the initial vote, and also highlighted a lack of time available to hold a new referendum.

Lawmakers are due to vote on whether to accept May’s exit deal in the week beginning January 14.

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