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Politics

09th Nov 2018

British public now think EU referendum was ‘unfair and illegitimate’

Public opinion is shifting

Oli Dugmore

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 12: Leave.EU backer Arron Banks eats a pork pie handed to him by an anti-Brexit demonstrator as he arrives to give evidence to the fake news select committee at Portcullis House on June 12, 2018 in London, England. The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee are questioning Arron Banks and Andy Wigmore, of the pro-Brexit Leave.EU, as part of its inquiry into fake news. British Newspapers have revealed a series of meetings with Russia's UK Ambassador in the lead up to the Brexit Referendum. (Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

Public opinion is shifting

A new survey shows that the public no longer believe the EU referendum was “fair and legitimate.”

Carried out by Deltapoll for Prospect, the poll shows 42 per cent of voters view the referendum as “unfair and illegitimate” against 38 per cent who believe the opposite.

The results also showed that more British people believe Brexit is weakening the country rather than strengthening it. 27 per cent think it is making Britain stronger versus 48 per cent.

Martin Boon of DeltaPoll said: “Just how deep is the fault line that Brexit has cut across our politics. The small print of the survey shows that roughly two-thirds of Remainers, in a 64:21 split, look back on the referendum as unfair, but that is almost exactly mirrored by a 63:22 in the other direction among leavers.

“With the Brexit talks entering their fraught final phase, and with so many big questions still up in the air, perhaps we should not be surprised to discover doubts about where the process is headed.

“Even so, there is no disguising that Britain is getting the jitters: more people than not tell us they’ve doubts about the referendum, and many more people than not think the whole process is weakening the country. Many expect Europe to get by OK without us, and many also expect that before too long we could be asking to go back in.”