HOW DAILY EXPRESS HAS LED THE WAY 65% say ‘No’ to 2nd referendum

ANALYSIS

BORIS Johnson has today declared that Brexit has become “an unstoppable express” as an opinion poll shows that nearly two thirds of voters now want the EU referendum result to be honoured in full.

Writing in the Daily Express, which has led the campaign for us to quit the EU, the Foreign Secretary hailed the “glorious” future ahead when we depart one year from today.

He said: “Our national journey out of the EU is almost over – and a glorious view awaits.”

A total of 65 per cent of voters in the survey did not want a second referendum on Britain’s membership of the bloc, the online survey of more than 2,000 adults found.

Mr Johnson’s upbeat assessment came as an exclusive ComRes survey for the Daily Express last night showed 68 per cent of Britons think that those who voted against quitting the EU “should respect the majority” for Leave.

Four in 10 people who voted Remain in the 2016 referendum now agree that the Leave vote should be respected, according to the poll commissioned to mark one year to go until the UK formally leaves the EU.

In his exclusive article for the Daily Express, Mr Johnson said: “It’s exactly a year from today that Britain will be out of the European Union and reengaging with the rest of the world.

“Like an unstoppable express, we are heading for Brexit and frankly my friends, we can’t arrive soon enough.”

The massive support for the Government getting on with delivering Brexit in the Daily Express/ComRes poll compares with 52 per cent who voted for Leave and 48 per cent for Remain in the in-or-out EU referendum in 2016.

Britons are now overwhelmingly optimistic about the country’s prospects for “taking back control” of domestic policy making after the country quits the EU, the ComRes survey said.

Brexit supporters seized on the Daily Express/ComRes poll findings last night as confirmation that Theresa May needed to “get on” with Brexit.

Senior Tory Sir William Cash, chairman of the Commons European Scrutiny Committee, said: “I thoroughly welcome this breath of democratic fresh air. It is time that the Remoaners and reversers accepted the will of the people.”

Former Tory

12 Massive

Cabinet minister

16

Priti THERESA May and her Cabinet are under no illusions that the toughest phase of the Brexit negotiations is about to commence.

After months of wrangling over the size of the divorce bill and details of the transition out of the bloc, from next month the two sides have to focus on thrashing out a framework for how Britain’s future relationship with the EU will work.

A massive gulf remains between the “deep and special partnership” Mrs May envisages and the off-theshelf deal that the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier still insists is all that is on the table if Britain is quitting the bloc’s single market and customs union.

British negotiators accept the Prime Minister’s initial hope that businesses enjoy the same EU marketplace access that they do today is not achievable. They are Patel, a leading figure in the Vote Leave campaign, said: “It’s time political leaders here and in Europe paid attention to the voice of the British people.

“We voted to leave the EU and our people want to get on and take back control.”

Richard Tice, co-chairman of the Brexit-backing pressure group Leave Means Leave, said: “It is fantastic to see that the overwhelming majority of people – including many people who voted to remain – want the result of the EU referendum to be respected.

“In Britain we have a very long history of democracy and this poll shows that people are extremely proud of that.

“With one year to go until we leave the EU and are a free, independent, global nation again, this poll should give the Government the encouragement it needs to get on and deliver a clean, swift, Brexit.”

Peter Bone, another Tory MP and long-standing Brexit supporter, said: “This poll reflects exactly what I hear on the doorsteps every week.

“The fact that the economy has not crashed and is growing and interest rates have remained low has convinced most people that the Government just needs to get on with Brexit.” urging a deal to leave trade in goods virtually unchanged, while accepting some degree of increased restriction on trade in services.

The aim is to minimise “friction” – tariffs, quotas and customs checks – in any future trade deal, without pretending they can be avoided altogether.

Within Whitehall, there is a feeling that the drive towards a deal sagged at the beginning of the year and British negotiators are pressing for a rapid resumption of trade talks.

The issue of the Northern Ireland border is still understood to be a major sticking point, but fears the talks could collapse without a deal appear to have subsided.

This Easter, Mrs May is holidaying in Wales and the rest of her team is hoping for some downtime. They will need to be fully refreshed for a rocky, but not insurmountable path ahead over the next few months.

THERESA ON TOUR

THE Prime Minister last night vowed to heal the bitter divisions over Brexit by building a country that is “strong and united”.

Ahead of a frenetic one-day tour of the UK to mark the countdown to leaving the EU, Mrs May insisted Britain’s new role in the world could be “a success for everyone”.

Mrs May will start today by visiting textile workers at a factory in Ayrshire, before travelling to Newcastle to meet a local parent-and-toddler group.

She will have lunch with farmers near Belfast before travelling to Barry, South Wales, to meet local businesses, followed by tea in west London with Polish citizens who have made the UK their home.

Mrs May will take a short walking holiday in Wales over the Easter weekend, Downing Street confirmed yesterday. She opened the last Prime Minister’s Questions of the term by wishing MPs “a very happy Easter”.

44 47 49