Most Brits think it was wrong to leave the European Union, and more than half are in favour of rejoining, according to latest polling – but ministers say the debate around membership belongs in the past
Most Brits thinks the UK was wrong to leave the EU, and over half favour rejoining, according to recent polling.
But ministers say they have no intention of re-opening the longrunning debate, while PM-in-waiting Andy Burnham has hosed down the suggestion Brexit should be reversed. This week marked a decade since the historic referendum, which saw voters back leaving by 52% to 48%.
YouGov data shows 57% believe Brexit was a mistake, while 55% want to go back into the European Union. A quarter of leave voters think it has been a failure, pollsters found.
It has reignited the debate around rejoining the bloc, with new figures showing young voters are particularly keen on the idea. Last month Mr Burnham said that Brexit had been damaging, but said he would not push to rejoin.
Doing so, he warned, would leave the UK in a “permanent rut” going over the same argument repeatedly. And this week EU relations minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said going back into the EU was an “unrealistic mirage”.
He said: “We live in a post-Brexit world, and it’s time people started acting like it.” The debate was given fresh momentum after former Health Secretary Wes Streeting floated the idea of rejoining the European Union, a decade after the 2016 referendum.
He said: “It’s left us less wealthy, less powerful and less in control than at any point before the industrial revolution.”
And the former Cabinet member – who is being mooted as a contender to be Chancellor under Mr Burnham – went on: “We need a new special relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future lies with Europe, and one day, one day, back in the European Union.”
But in response Mr Burnham said: “My view is that Brexit has been damaging, but I also believe the last thing we should do right now is rerun those arguments. Britain will be stuck in a permanent rut if we’re just constantly arguing and people are pulling away from each other.”
A separate poll by More in Common found that Gen Z voters – aged 18 to 28 – overwhelmingly believe the UK should rejoin. It found 60% would vote to rejoin if they could.
According to calculations based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) data published by the Financial Times, around 15% of those who voted leave have died in the past decade. For remainers, that figure is 10%.
An exclusive poll for The Mirror earlier this month revealed a majority of people would want to see the UK rejoin the EU if another Brexit referendum was held. Nearly six in 10 (58%) people who would vote in a second Brexit referendum would vote to rejoin the EU.
Support was highest among 18 to 24-year-olds, where more than eight in 10 (86%) backed returning to the bloc. Older groups were more likely to support staying out of the EU, by 51% to 49% among 55 to 64-year-olds, and 58% to 42% among over 65s. It comes amid growing calls for closer ties with Europe from Labour.