Brexit: Rejoining EU takes record 14-point lead in latest poll

Jump to contentSign up to our newslettersSubscribeNewsSportsVoicesCultureLifestyleTravelPremiumNewsUKUK PoliticsJon StoneFriday 28 October 2022 12:58CommentsSupport for joining the EU has reached a record high since BrexitBritons would now vote to rejoin the EU in a second referendum by a record 14-point margin, a new poll has found.A tracker poll found support for reversing Brexit is now at 57 per cent, compared to just 43 per cent who want to keep it.Support for rejoining has steadily ticked up since the start of this year – with ‘out’ still ahead as recently as May this year.But the survey by Redfield and Wilton Strategies for the UK in a Changing Europe think-tank shows the picture has changed quickly amid economic and international turmoil.Professor Sir John Curtice, a respected political scientist at the University of Strathclyde, said that the shift may be down to changes in the economic situation – and suggested the trend may continue.”In reporting on the poll in February we noted that evaluations of the economic consequences of Brexit were particularly strongly related to changes of mind about being inside or outside the EU. This pattern is replicated in the latest poll,” he wrote in an analysis of the findings.The professor said it seemed “highly likely that a darkening of the public mood on the economic consequences of Brexit helps explain the increase in support for joining the EU” and added that it should not be ruled out “that the financial turbulence of recent weeks may at least have helped to reinforce that mood”. “What happens to the economy and the country’s fiscal finances in the coming weeks and months may not only be crucial to the Conservatives’ future electoral prospects, but also for the continuing level of support for Brexit,” he said. Sir John noted that 2016 Remain voters who would now vote to stay out of the EU were much less likely (40 per cent) than those who would vote to join again (85 per cent) to say that the economy was weaker as a result of Brexit.”A similar difference exists between those 2016 Leave voters who would vote to stay out and those who would now back joining,” he noted.98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay’s Galleria in central LondonPAA meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichmentPAKing Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new governmentPARishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative PartyReutersThe Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market’s annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemicPASculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the ‘Planet A’ Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire townPABritain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignationAFP/GettySalmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migrationPAJust Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the groupPAHundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator’s Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in FifePAA protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction RebellionAFP/GettyA member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a “Just Stop Oil” protest, in London, BritainREUTERSGermany’s Women’s double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, PembrokeshirePAFamily and mourners arrive at St Michael’s Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on FridayPAMotorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colourPAA woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrisePAPolice officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, LondonPAA drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, LondonPATimothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, LondonPATwo young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublin’s Phoenix park as rutting season beginsPAThe Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern IrelandPAGreenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conferencePAPrime Minister Liz Truss and Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in BirminghamAFP/GettyBritish artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist’s trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodlesPAErling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City’s second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. 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City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil.Action Images/ReutersMembers of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in LondonAFP via Getty ImagesMembers of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on MondayPAThe first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on MondayPACrowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough CastleGettyCrowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles’ Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth IIKatielee Arrowsmith/SWNSMembers of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through BallaterAFP/GettyBritain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain’s Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor CastleAFP/GettyKing Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham PalaceGettyA screen commemorating Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London BritainEPAPolice officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, BritainReutersBut despite the strong public opinion shift towards wanting to rejoin the EU, no major political party is actively campaigning to do so.Labour leader Keir Starmer said again this week there was no chance of his party taking Britain back into the EU.”It’s straight no from me. We’re not going back into the EU,” he told LBC radio, adding that he wanted to “make Brexit work”.Even the Liberal Democrats, who in 2019 said they wanted to rejoin the EU without even putting it to a referendum, have only set out a tentative roadmap for rejoining the bloc’s economic single market.Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalismBy registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalistsAlready have an account? sign inRegistration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalismBy registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalistsAlready have an account? sign inSupport for joining the EU has reached a record high since BrexitAFP via Getty ImagesPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in