Big Brexit Survey: Most voters think UK would benefit from staying in EU’s Single Market A majority of the British public – including one in five Leave voters – believe the UK would be better […]

A majority of the British public – including one in five Leave voters – believe the UK would be better off if the country remained in the European Single Market, a major national Brexit survey has found.

The result suggests most voters disagree with both the Government and Labour over their policies to pull out. Overall 56 per cent said the UK would benefit from maintaining current arrangements, meaning frictionless trade and free movement of people across the continent.

The vast online survey of almost 220,000 people also showed that just 18 per cent of people are happy with the Brexit negotiations so far.

The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

In a still bitterly divided nation, both sides are dissatisfied with the agreements secured for the UK’s Brexit divorce from the EU and the current direction on a future relationship, though Remain voters are the most unhappy at 76 per cent.

How did we survey such a large number of people on Brexit? The ‘Big Brexit Survey’, carried out in partnership with Google Surveys, gathered responses from 216,787 voters to key questions on Britain’s future relationship with the EU, using an extensive network of local and regional news websites. A total of 258 sites were used by Johnston Press – the owners of i – in conjunction with Trinity Mirror and Newsquest, reaching readers from all corners of the UK. The surveys took answers solely from people who said they voted in the 2016 referendum. They were limited to one response per user ID and were analysed according to ages, locations and previous votes.

Why the Single Market question matters

The findings are significant as both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are still facing calls from prominent Remain-supporting MPs to keep Britain’s Single Market membership, rather than pursuing bespoke trade deals, to offer economic stability. But Leave supporters say retaining current arrangements would amount to a betrayal of the Brexit vote.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said this month that Britain could have until the end of 2020 to change its mind and stay in the Single Market, even after leaving the EU on 29 March 2019.

Would you change your Brexit vote?

Compared to Remain supporters, twice as many Leave backers said in the survey they would switch sides if a second referendum were held tomorrow – indicating a re-run ballot could see the UK choosing to stay in the EU after all, by a tight majority of 51 to 49 per cent.

However, many more Leave voters are undecided on how they would vote if given another chance, meaning the result in 2016 – when 51.9 to 49.1 per cent were in favour of Brexit – could still be repeated. Overall the clear majority of people, 88 per cent, said they would vote the same as last time.

The Irish border question

Two thirds of people in Northern Ireland say introducing customs controls at the border with the Republic of Ireland would be unacceptable – but it’s a sacrifice that a majority of Brexit voters in the province would be prepared to make.

The question of how trade should be regulated between a post-Brexit north and the Republic, which will remain an EU member, has become one of the trickiest problems to solve in the Britain’s negotiations with Brussels.

The EU has suggested a border should be enforced in the Irish Sea, keeping Northern Ireland inside the Customs Union unlike the rest of the UK, but Whitehall rejects this idea.

Among 8,200 people who answered the online survey in Northern Ireland, 67 per cent said they could not accept the reintroduction of a ‘hard border’, compared to 24 per cent who said they could abide with one. Nine per cent were uncertain. But among Leave voters, 53 per cent said they could accept customs controls.

Young and old The survey results suggest the gap between different age groups is increasing. Leave voters aged under 45 were most likely to say they would now vote differently, at 10 per cent, compared to just 5 per cent of those over 65. In contrast, just 3 per cent of Remain supporters under 45 say they have changed their view, compared to 5 per cent of those aged over 55. Young voters were also the most unsatisfied with the state of Brexit negotiations. Only 12 per cent of people aged under 35 said they were happy, compared to 27 per cent for voters over 65.

A divided nation

Regional differences on Brexit in other parts of the UK were also underlined in the survey. People living in Scotland were those most likely to say Britain should stay in the Single Market, at 66 per cent. Northern Ireland was second at 60 per cent.

Voters in the North East of England, the East Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber, were the most in favour of Britain leaving the Single Market, at 31 per cent.