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17th Oct 2018

British people think voting to leave the EU was wrong in hindsight, poll shows

James Dawson

47 per cent of adults think that looking back it was wrong to vote to leave the EU

New polling from YouGov has shown that a majority of British people believe that the UK was wrong to vote to leave the European Union in hindsight.

The research shows that 47 per cent of adults think that looking back it was wrong to vote to leave the EU, compared to 40 per cent who say it was right. The remaining 13 per cent were sat on the fence saying they “didn’t know”.

The new data represents a seven-point difference, with the average for the last ten polls by YouGov that asked this question finding a gap of 4.9 per cent.

On Saturday, tens of thousands are expected to protest in favour of a People’s Vote on Brexit in what is expected to be the largest march of the campaign for a second referendum so far, as negotiations between Theresa May and European Union representatives near an end.

Lara Spirit, Co-President of anti-Brexit youth campaign group Our Future, Our Choice said the polling indicated “widespread dissatisfaction with the omnishambles of this Brexit process.”

She added: “Young people are overwhelmingly pro-European – more than 78 per cent of them support remaining in the European Union. Our generation is inclusive, tolerant, and outward-looking and all of our values are at odds with how this government has prosecuted its bumbling negotiations.

“The only answer to public disillusionment with how Brexit has not lived up to what they voted for is a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal.”

Anthony Wells, director of political research for YouGov, told the Evening Standard: “The slow trend of public opinion moving against Brexit we’ve seen over the last year appears to be continuing.

“A single poll showing a seven-point lead doesn’t necessarily mean much, the important thing is the underlying average and that appears to show the proportion of people who think Brexit is the wrong decision gradually creeping upwards.”

The research comes after previous polling suggested that over two and a half million people have changed their mind and no longer want to leave the European Union.