Double the number of voters want a clean exit from the European Union (EU) than those who want to follow the Prime Minister’s plan to keep the UK tied to the bloc’s rules, a shock poll has shown.
The survey, by ComRes for The Mirror, showed a strong preference for leaving the EU on World Trade Organization rules – as the UK already trades with most of the world – over staying locked to goods and agriculture rules as Theresa May’s Chequers deal demands.
It shows that 39 percent of people think the Prime Minister “should accept a no deal and the UK simply leave the EU”. However, only 20 percent believe she should push ahead for a “soft Brexit”.
More than half – 51 percent – of Conservative Party voters want to walk away from the EU without a deal, compared with 26 per cent of Labour Party supporters.
Meanwhile, a quarter of all voters – including 36 percent of those who back Labour and 16 percent of Tory voters – want the Prime Minister to ask for an extension to the March deadline for a deal.
The public’s dislike of Mrs May’s Brexit plan is shared by a large number of Leave and Remain-supporting politicians, including former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and former Tory education secretary Justine Greening.
On Monday morning, Mrs Greening blasted Mrs May’s proposals as “the worst of both worlds”, unworkable, and not what Brexit-supporters had voted for.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump has also pointed out that the plan could “kill” a trade deal with his nation because of the EU’s protectionist rules and extensive regulations.
The widespread opposition to the Prime Minister’s plan may also explain the Tory Party’s recent slump in voter support.
A recent opinion poll for the Observer newspaper had Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party on 40 percent support with the Conservatives trailing on 36 percent – a six-point plummet since the beginning of last month.