The British public supports a second Brexit referendum for the first time, according to a new poll.

42% of voters support a second referendum on whether to accept any Brexit deal Theresa May strikes with the European Union.

40% oppose the idea, while 18% don't know, according to the YouGov / Times poll.

Support for a second referendum has been gradually rising.

However, support for remaining in the EU does not appear to have increased significantly in the past two years, and Leave could still win.



LONDON — British voters now back a second Brexit referendum, according to a new poll.

Support for a second referendum on the UK's EU membership has risen gradually as the chances of a no-deal Brexit rise and as Brussels rejects large parts of Theresa May's Brexit proposals outlined in the Chequers agreement.

Voters were asked by YouGov for a Times poll this week whether there should be a second referendum on the final terms of any Brexit deal.

It found that 42% of the public supports a referendum on whether to accept or reject the final Brexit deal that May brings back from Brussels. Forty per cent opposed the plan, while 18% didn't know.

That is the first time that the proportion of voters who favour a second Brexit referendum has overtaken those who are opposed. On June 19 and 20, just 37% of the public supported the idea while 45% were opposed.

Most of the new support comes from voters who supported Remain in the first referendum. Just 19% of those who voted Leave supported a second vote, while 66% of those who voted Remain supported one.

Last week, the former education secretary, Justine Greening, became the first senior Conservative MP to back another Brexit referendum, or what campaigners describe as a "People's Vote."

Justine Greening MP. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

However, support for remaining in the EU does not appear to have increased significantly in the past two years.

Of those polled, 45% said they would remain, while 42% would vote to leave, with 4% saying they would not vote and 9% saying they didn't know.

While those figures would imply a Remain win, most opinion polls in the run-up to the 2016 referendum also indicated Britain would stay in the EU, with a final swing to Leave taking place at the ballot box.