CRITICS WRONG: MAY
Edinburgh, Dec. 17: A poll has found that 51 per cent of Britons would now keep European Union membership while 41 per cent want to leave the bloc, a near reversal of last year’s referendum result.
People hold banners during a ‘ March for Europe’ demonstration against Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, in central London, Britain July 2, 2016. Britain voted to leave the European Union in the EU Brexit referendum.
The BMG poll 1,400 people for The Independent published on the newspaper’s website on Saturday came as Britain moves into a second phase of negotiations on exiting the EU, which will focus on trade.
The Independent said the lead for “remain” over “leave” was the biggest in any poll so far since the vote in June 2016.
But the head of polling at of BMG, quoted in the Independent, said that the reason for the change was a shift in opinion among those who did not vote in last year’s referendum, while around nine in 10 “leave” and “remain” voters were unchanged in their views. The survey
was carried out December 5 to 8.
In the referendum last year, 52 per cent of Britons voted to leave the EU and 48 per cent voted to remain.
Mike Smithson, an election analyst who runs the www. politicalbetting. com
from
website who is also a former Liberal Democrat politician, said on Twitter it was “the biggest lead for Remain since ( the EU referendum).”
Prime Minister Theresa May this week secured an agreement with the EU to move Brexit talks on to negotiations. “Amid all the noise, we are getting on with the job,” she added. “We will not be derailed from this fundamental duty to deliver the democratic will of the British people.” Ms May said it was important to work out the exact terms of an implementation period, designed to soften the effects of Brexit after the March 2019 leave date, “as soon as possible... To provide invaluable certainty for employers.” trade and a transition pact, but some European leaders warned that negotiations, which have been arduous so far, could now become tougher.
Meanwhile, Britain’s foreign minister and leading Brexiteer Boris Johnson told the Sunday Times that nation must strike a strong trade deal with the European Union after Brexit and avoid becoming a subordinate state of the bloc.
Failure to ditch EU law would make the United Kingdom a “vassal state,” Mr Johnson said in an interview to be published on Sunday.
The government must aim to “maximize the benefits of Brexit” by getting divergence from the bloc’s rules so that it could do “proper free trade deals” with other countries.
Ms May had secured a deal with the EU to move Brexit talks on to trade and a transition pact. But she must now unite her deeply divided cabinet.
In a measure of the difficulty Ms May will face in bringing her side together, finance minister Philip Hammond caused a stir among some Brexit supporters.
Nation must strike a strong trade deal with EU after Brexit and avoid becoming a subordinate state of the bloc — Boris Johnson,
UK foreign minister