As Britain stumbles over Brexit, support grows for second vote
Shift is being seen in public opinion
FFORESTFACH, Wales — Since a majority of Britons voted narrowly to leave the European Union more than 18 months ago, most politicians have treated a withdrawal, known as Brexit, as inviolable. Even amid signs of a slowing economy, few saw signs of a shift in public opinion. Until now. People here in Wales have noticed that Prime Minister Theresa May is struggling to negotiate Britain’s departure from the bloc.
As the political stalemate drags on, and with business leaders issuing ever more urgent alarms about the threats to the economy, growing public doubts are beginning to register in some opinion polls. And opponents of Brexit are quietly cultivating what they see as that rising sentiment in their campaign to soften, if not reverse, the whole process.
They even picked up support from an unexpected quarter when Nigel Farage, the former UK Independence Party leader and the leading proponent of Brexit, recently suggested there might be a second referendum.
Prominent “leavers,” as supporters of Brexit are known, dismiss that possibility, but it may not be as far-fetched as they would have people believe.
Some time later this year Parliament is likely to face a vote on the actual terms of any agreement Ms. May can reach with the European Union on Britain’s withdrawal. A defeat in Parliament would prompt a political crisis, very likely topple Ms. May and possibly prompt a general election. Potentially, that could open the way to a rethink, to new Brexit options, or to a second referendum.
That is what people like the local Swansea lawmaker Geraint Davies, from the opposition Labour Party, are banking on. He believes the tide is turning against Brexit in Wales, where a majority opted to quit, although Wales is a big recipient of European development aid, and has several industries that might lose from Brexit.
There is growing support for a vote on the terms of any Brexit deal, according to Roger Awan-Scully, a professor in the Wales Governance Center at Cardiff University.
When Tony Blair, a former prime minister, called last month for another plebiscite, Brexit supporters derided him as a pillar of a failed, elitist, pro-European establishment.
But it was hard to say the same when Mr. Farage suggested there should be another vote.