𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The battle facing Brexiteers to persuade the country to stay outside the European Union is laid bare in new polling which shows 56% of Brits say they would vote to apply to rejoin the EU if there was a referendum. Just three in 10 of those polled by Ipsos would vote to stay out, with the majority thinking being back in the bloc would have a long-term positive impact on the economy. The polling lands as Prime Minister Andy Burnham prepares for the EU-UK summit in Brussels on November 20 where he will push for a closer relationship with the member states.

Support for rejoining has increased by four points since May while opposition has fallen by three points. Mr Burnham, 56, has said he wants the UK to rejoin in his lifetime. There is overwhelming support for rejoining among people who voted for Labour in the last election (77%) and among under-35s (73%). However, 47% of those aged 55-plus would vote to stay out, with just 39% wanting to re-enter. Three in four Reform UK voters (76%) and 54% of those who backed the Tories want to remain outside the EU.

When Ipsos drilled down into the data to see how “likely voters” would cast their votes in a referendum there was even stronger support for becoming a member state again. Sixty-three percent support rejoining and 34% are opposed. Nearly half of respondents (49%) would support a referendum before the next election, but Mr Burnham has ruled out reversing Brexit in this parliament. There was less support for rejoining the EU without a referendum if Labour simply made a manifesto commitment to go back in and then won the election. Thirty-nine percent supported joining this way and 35% opposed.

A majority thought being back in the EU would be better for Britain’s economy in the longer term (54%) with just 23% thinking it would make the situation worse. More than half (53%) thought membership would strengthen Britain’s national security, and only 17% thought it would weaken it.

However, just 37% thought it would strengthen Britain’s ability to control immigration and asylum, with 31% thinking being back in the EU would make it worse. And only one in four people thought rejoining would increase Britain’s ability to make decisions in its own best interests. thirty-nine percent thought it would weaken its ability.

Keiran Pedley, director of politics at Ipsos in the UK, said: “These numbers are encouraging for those who support the UK joining the European Union with a clear majority saying they are in favour and just three in ten explicitly opposed. A majority of the public also think joining would have a positive impact on Britain’s economy in the long term and national security too. Yet in other areas the public are less sure, which suggests there are still arguments which could be contested in any future campaign. Britons are less convinced joining will positively impact their own standard of living and the issue of immigration remains an important one. More generally, the public are more likely to think joining will have a negative, rather than positive, impact on Britain’s ability to make decisions in its best interests; a sentiment any future campaign in favour of joining would have to contend with.”

Former Ukip deputy leader David Campbell Bannerman dismissed the case for rejoining the EU as a “Halloween illusion”.

He said: “We would have to pay £35billion a year now – far more than when we left. We’d have to join the Euro and lose the Pound. Our national freedoms would be thrown away. This polling is influenced by the blatant lies being told on economic benefits – they are just a Halloween illusion.”