What do you think now – nearly 2 years after EU vote?
NEARLY threefifths of people in Greater Manchester think we would be better off economically in Europe - and a majority want to stick with the single market, a new poll suggests.
Almost two years on from the EU Referendum, a new Brexit survey suggests 57 per cent of readers of our sister paper the M.E.N. believe Britain would be better off financially in the EU.
And more than six out of 10 (61pc) said Britain should continue to be part of the single European market.
A total of 3,500 people responded to the survey on the M.E.N. website, which asked them a range of Brexit-related questions.
But while most Greater Manchester voters would stick to their original choice - which at the time saw 53pc of the region vote out - more leavers than remainers would now vote the other way.
●●HAVE you changed your mind?
We posed the question, ‘Knowing what you know now, if a referendum were to be conducted next week, would you vote in the same way as you voted last time?’
And most of you were happy to stick to your guns. More than eight out of 10 leave voters (81pc) and nine out of 10 of remain voters would still vote the same way.
More leave voters would vote differently if the referendum was held now - one in nine saying they would act differently (11pc) compared to one in 17 remain voters (6pc).
●●ARE you happy with
how negotiations are going?
Article 50 has been triggered and as things stand Britain will leave the EU at 11pm on Friday, March 29, 2019.
But before then there are still lots of issues to be resolved and this was one area where both leave and remain voters were in agreement.
Regardless of how those surveyed voted in the referendum, many M.E.N. readers were unhappy with the way negotiations are going.
Among those who said they voted leave, 48pc are unhappy with the status of negotiations compared to 30pc who were happy.
More than three-quarters of those who voted remain (76pc) said they were unhappy, compared to eight pc who said they were happy. ●●WOULD we be better off economically in or out of Europe?’
Overall, M.E.N readers believe we’d be better in, but there is a stark split between leave and remain voters.
Among leave voters, just 12pc think Britain would be better off economically in Europe, with more than seven out of 10 (71pc) believing leaving the EU will provide a boost to our economy.
But remain voters are, perhaps unsurprisingly, much more likely to think continuing close ties with Europe is a good idea in terms of the nation’s economic wellbeing.
Almost nine out of 10 (86pc) think Britain is better off economically inside Europe, with just one in 20 believing leaving the EU will be a good thing for finances.
●●EU single market - in or out?
Arguably the biggest question still to be resolved in the Brexit negotiations - and it is a topic that again split our readers.
Overall, six out of 10 people who responded to the survey believed we should remain in the single market, the legislation which ensures free movement of goods, services, capital and labour among member states.
But when the figures are broken down to leave and remain voters, it is a different story.
Just a quarter of leave voters think we should continue to be part of the single market, compared to 84pc of remainers.