Number of Britons who want to rejoin EU highest since 2016
Seven years after the Brexit referendum, the proportion of Britons who want to rejoin the EU has climbed to its highest level since 2016, according to a survey, The Guardian reports.
Britons and Europeans also think the UK’s return to the EU is becoming more likely, while British respondents are more optimistic about the bloc’s future – to the extent of trusting the European Commission more than their own government.
Data from YouGov’s latest Brexit tracker survey found that, excluding those who said they would not vote or did not know, 58.2% of people in Britain would vote to rejoin.
The percentage is only fractionally down on the 60% recorded in February this year – the highest figure since comparable records began in February 2012 – and has risen more or less consistently since a post-referendum low of 47% in early 2021.
Europeans are a lot less likely to think other countries would follow Britain’s example, the survey found. Asked whether they would vote to remain in the EU or leave in a Brexit-style referendum, 62% of respondents in France and 63% in Italy, which are traditionally among the least enthusiastic EU member states, said they would vote to stay.
