A decade after a knife-edge vote decided that Britain would leave the EU, most people now think that the withdrawal has had a “negative impact” on the cost of living crisis, immigration, and opportunities for young people.
This is according to a new poll by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), which reveals that the majority of Britons – 57 per cent – believe that the UK was “wrong to leave” the EU.
The polling, which was carried out by YouGov and Mandate, asked Brits whether they felt that the UK was better off in a number of different areas since distancing itself from its European neighbours.
Most said Brexit had had a “negative impact” on the issues they cared about most – and had left the UK poorer, and less safe.
The new data has been released the day after 1,500 campaigners marked the 10-year anniversary of the Brexit vote by marching across London whilst calling for the UK to rejoin the EU.
People during a National Rejoin March in London, marking 10 years since the Brexit referendum (Photo: Jeff Moore/ PA wire)Clad in yellow and blue hats and T-shirts emblazoned with slogans like “Citizens of Europe”, protesters on Saturday told how Brexit had prevented them from joining loved ones abroad and warned of the ramifications on the economy, trade, and small businesses.
They were joined by former Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock, who labelled Brexit “an unmitigated, unprecedented, continuing disaster.”
The Labour grandee is not alone in thinking that the fall-out of the vote has been dire. Some 66 per cent of people surveyed in the poll for the ECFR thought that Brexit had had a “negative” impact on the cost of everyday shopping and bills, whilst 65 per cent felt that it had been damaging to the UK economy.
Meanwhile, 60 per cent of people thought withdrawal had harmed the UK’s reputation, and 57 per cent felt the same way regarding its impact on opportunities for young people.
“The economic damage is huge”, Lord Kinnock said at the rally in Parliament Square, adding that the public can see it in their pockets, in lost opportunities, and in “being left in an insecurity of not being part of a collective sovereign series of democracies that are comparable with ours, sharing our values.”
Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock speaks to anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray, at Parliament Square (Photo: Jeff Moore/ PA Wire)According to the new data, not only did an overwhelming majority believe that Brexit had had a tangible negative impact on many areas of everyday life, but most people – especially a younger demographic – would be in favour of a closer relationship with the EU.
According to the opinion poll, 52 per cent of people would vote to rejoin the EU if there was a referendum today, compared to 31 per cent who would vote to stay out. A small percentage – 11 – said they were undecided, whilst six per cent said they would avoid the ballot box all together.
Amongst those who were too young to have a say in 2016, 70 per cent said they would now vote to re-join.
At the National Rejoin March (NRM), scientists told how Brexit had seen them lose out on European research funding, whilst others simply pointed to the huge passport queues UK nationals now had to contend with when they wanted to go on holiday.
32-year-old Madeleine Kay, who wants to move to Germany to be with her husband Johann, said: “I think Brexit was a travesty for the United Kingdom and it has also had a personal impact on me, a huge amount.
“I want to see a better future for everyone in the UK, but especially those young people who did not get a say in the referendum. It is really important that we make out cause visible.”
The poll revealed that 63 per cent of people thought that the UK should be prioritising its relationship with the EU over the US, and most people believed that, faced with a global crisis or attack, it would be European countries that would rally round for support.
A total of 72 per cent of people were “confident” that at least some EU countries would come to defend the UK if it was attacked, whilst only 35 per cent of people thought the same about the US.
In a departure from an historic aversion to joining militarily with European nations, more Brits would support rather than oppose the creation of a European army that included UK forces.
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