BREXIT SURVEY: REGION NOW SPLIT 50-50
MP BACKS CALL FOR PEOPLE’S VOTE IF THERE’S NO DEAL
A Sunderland MP has backed a People’s Vote on Brexit after a new poll revealed the North East is now an exact 50/50 even split about whether to leave or stay in the EU.
Despite the region voting overwhelmingly for Brexit in 2016 by a 16-point margin, polling by YouGov for the People’s Vote campaign, suggests that opinion is now split on the issue.
The poll comes as the People’s Vote campaign publishes a detailed impact study on how Brexit would affect the North East.
It claims the region is expected to lose 10% of GDP over the next decade under a “no deal” scenario, meaning every man, woman and child in the North East would be £3,000 a year worse off.
Publication of the poll of almost 1,000 adults across the North East shows strong support in the region for a People’s Vote on any final Brexit deal, which is now favoured by a margin of 40 to 35%.
But if talks break down, or there is no agreement on a Brexit deal, 54% would back the public being given the final say against just 22% who say MPs should the take the decision.
The disappearance of the Leave campaign’s 16-point margin of victory appears to have been driven by younger voters, with those aged under 50 dividing two-to-one for staying in the European Union while voters over 50 are still twoto-one in favour of Brexit.
Following the publication of the poll, Houghton and Sunderland South MP Bridget Phillipson says she thinks a People’s Vote is “only right”.
She said: “I know that many people across Sunderland voted to Leave the European Union in June 2016.
“They wanted a better deal for our community and greater hope for the future.
“But I also know that a growing number of voters are increasingly concerned about the potential impact of leaving the EU – particularly if we crash out on destructive terms which hit the pockets of everyone across the North East for years to come, with a majority of the public now supporting a People’s Vote in such circumstances. “
A majority of the public now support a People’s Vote if there is no deal