A majority of British citizens now regret leaving the European Union, and wish to rejoin, according to a YouGov poll published on Wednesday.
Seven years after the UK left the EU in Brexit, pollsters found that 52% of those polled now believe leaving the EU was a mistake, and seven out of ten respondents would like to see the UK deepen its ties with the bloc.
The YouGov poll also found that 57% of Brits would support rejoining the single market, even if that were to reopen Britain’s borders to the free travel of people into and out of the country. In 2016, limiting immigration was one of the key motivators behind the vote for Brexit.
The survey comes closely after the release of the latest data which showed that annual net migration to Briton had hit a record high. The data from the Office of National Statistics, showed that, “Non-EU immigration was estimated to be around 968,000 for the year ending June 2023, an increase of 120,000 compared with the year ending June 2022. In the year ending June 2023 this group accounted for 82% of total immigration.”
The poll by YouGov also found that 72% of Britons think that the exit from the EU has had a negative economic impact.
The poll came as economic growth in the UK has been stagnant and inflation remains at historic levels, while economists continue to warn that Brexit is continuing to harm trade and investment in the UK.
