Just get on with it
Poll shows most voters are tired of Brexit delays – even Remainers
THE majority of voters – including those who backed Remain – now want ministers to just get on with Brexit, a poll has shown.
Some 60 per cent said they no longer care how or when we leave the European Union, but ‘just want it all over and done with’.
The survey by Deltapoll found that even 48 per cent of Remainers agreed, compared to 47 per cent who did not.
According to the poll of 2,047 adults, 76 per cent of Tory Leave voters and 75 per cent of Labour-leaning Brexit supporters just want to get on with leaving the EU.
Among those who backed Remain, 58 per cent of Tories and 42 per cent of Labour voters said they agreed.
Joe Twyman, director of Deltapoll, said: ‘What these results show is that for many people, particularly those who voted to leave the EU, the precise details of the negotiations are not important.
‘While politicians and commentators from all side of the political spectrum dissect, debate and discuss the minutiae of Brexit, the majority of British voters just feel like they want to get it over and done with as soon as possible.’
The poll results are likely to please Downing Street as they seek to win support for the Prime Minister’s Brexit blueprint.
Aides hope voters will ultimately choose to back the plan thrashed out by her Cabinet at Chequers, rather than send the Government back to the drawing board.
Ahead of the Brexit deadline in March next year, Mrs May has said the country has a choice of either supporting her plan or leaving the EU without a deal.
Yesterday she visited Edinburgh on the latest leg of her UK-wide tour to gain support for her plan.
But an international trade expert last night warned that her proposals to charge varying rates of customs tariffs on goods coming in to the UK – depending on whether they were eventually destined for the continent or not – would fall foul of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
In a report for the pro-Brexit group Lawyers for Britain, Professor David Collins from City Law School said at least two aspects of the so-called Facilitated Customs Arrangement could breach WTO law. He said the ‘illusory’ plan would ‘severely constrain the UK’s capacity to sign free trade agreements’ with other countries.
He warned that foreign traders would find the system over-complicated and could lead some to decide not to bother exporting to the UK any more.
Meanwhile, the railway industry called for customs checkpoints to be established at rail freight terminals across Britain to avoid congestion in Kent after Brexit. The Rail Delivery Group, which represents rail firms, said there could be ‘significant disruption and delays’ if only a single checkpoint near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel is used.
Public and private sector funds should be used to install customs facilities at existing freight terminals across the country, such as Daventry, under the proposals.
Former foreign secretary William Hague also warned Emmanuel Macron that it is not in France’s interests to stand in the way of Britain’s attempts to secure a favourable Brexit deal.
Lord Hague said it was clear ministers see France as the ‘biggest national obstacle’ to an agreement. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said: ‘In the world of a rising China and a less reliable America, Britain and France will need each other more.’