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Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Brexit: Britons prefer to remain, poll finds

The British public seem to be increasingly alarmed by the prospect of a ‘no deal’ Brexit – which is championed by right-wing Conservative Brexiteers.

A YouGov poll for the Times found that in a three-way transferable vote, 50% would put their first preference towards Remain, with 33% towards No Deal, and 17% towards leaving with a deal.

The poll also found that support for Theresa May’s Conservatives is plunging, amid infighting over the details of the final Brexit deal.

The poll put the Conservatives on 36%, down one point from last week, behind Labour on 41%, up two points.

Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington said the Government would be setting out more details of its preparations for a no-deal scenario in the coming weeks.

He told Today: “But our energies are going into negotiating a positive way forward with our European counterparts.

“That is what we expect to happen.”

The Conservative civil war over Brexit intensified today as Boris Johnson paid tribute to Theresa May in his resignation statement to the House Of Commons – but criticised her ‘dithering’ approach to Brexit.

He said that “a fog of self-doubt has descended” over the negotiations. He added that it is “Not too late to save Brexit,” and added, “We must try to save Brexit because we will not get another chance.”

Mr. Johnson said that the UK should aim for the vision of “a strong independent, self-governing Britain” set out at Lancaster House, not the “miserable, permanent limbo” of Chequers.

Johnson said that last year at Lancaster House, Mrs. May said she would seek a “bold, ambitious and comprehensive” free trade agreement with the EU outside the customs union and single market.

“I thought it was the right vision then, I think so today,” he said. But he said that since then, “a fog of self-doubt has descended.”

Johnson paid tribute to Theresa May for “her courage and her resilience.”

He said: “It was my privilege to collaborate with her in promoting Global Britain – a vision for this country which she set out with great clarity at Lancaster House last year.” But Mr. Johnson said the government had “dithered” over the Lancaster House strategy.

“We never actually turned that vision into a negotiating position in Brussels and we never made it into a negotiating offer,” he said.

“Instead, we dithered and we burned through our negotiating capital. We agreed to hand over a £40 billion exit fee with no discussion of our future economic relationship.”

See Johnson’s statement to the House of commons: