By two to one the voters think the Brexit referendum should not have been held
Fascinating finding from @OpiniumResearch 'Brexit referendum should never have been called, say majority of voters'https://t.co/Tgrgm69kyA
— TSE (@TSEofPB) October 26, 2019
Hindsight is a wonderful thing
Today’s Observer is reporting that
Twice as many people now think it would have been better never to have held a referendum on Brexit than believe it was a good idea, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.
Asked to consider the difficulties the government has had in reaching an agreement, 57% of UK adults surveyed said that they believed it would have been better not to have had a public vote in June 2016.
This compares with 29% of voters who believe it was right to hold the referendum on whether the UK should stay in or leave the EU.
The findings reflect a growing sense of public weariness about arguments over Brexit, which have paralysed British politics and divided the country. People who voted to remain in the EU are overwhelmingly of the view that the referendum should not have taken place, with 87% agreeing and only 7% saying it was a good idea.
Those who voted to leave, however, still have a majority view – although a decreasing one – that it was right to have put the question to the people; 57% of this group said that they believed it was the correct decision, against 32% who now think the reverse.
This type of polling, coupled with consistent polling from YouGov about Brexit being the wrong decision, makes me think the Brexit fault line will not heal no matter what happens next.
If Boris Johnson’s deal passes in its current form then the cliff edge of No Deal rears its head at the end of 2020 and we’ve still got years worth of negotiations to come regarding the United Kingdom’s long term relationship with the European Union, this fault line will not go away anytime soon.