UK public OVERWHELMINGLY think country got bad Brexit deal, exclusive polling reveals

The public overwhelmingly think the UK got a bad Brexit deal from the EU, a new poll reveals.

The People Polling poll for Camilla Tominey Today on GB News found just 4 per cent of the public think that the UK government got a “good deal” from the EU. Fifty-four per cent say the UK government got a bad deal, and 42 per cent said they didn’t know or preferred not to say.

Among Leavers, 53 per cent say the UK government got a bad deal. This rises to 65 per cent of Remainers.

Commenting on the findings of the poll, politics expert Professor Matt Goodwin said: “One thing that unites Leavers and Remainers is the fact that they both now think the government got a ‘bad deal’ from the EU.

“The Government appears to have successfully alienated both sides, which may have a lot to do with the continuing disruption in Northern Ireland but also the changing economic context, the growing belief Brexit has not gone well and, for Leavers, the escalating levels of immigration into the country”.

Boris Johnson pushed the UK through the last hurdles of leaving the EU.
Andrew Boyers

Meanwhile the poll found that only 2 per cent of the public believe Brexit has made them richer. Of those polled 45 per cent say that Brexit has made them poorer, 34 per cent say it is about the same, and 2 per cent said they now felt richer. Among Leavers, 60 per cent say it is about the same, whereas 71 per cent of Remainers say they are ‘poorer'.

“We found very little evidence that people think Brexit has improved people’s economic prospects,” Prof Goodwin said. “In fact, only 2 percent of people think Brexit has made them richer while almost half the country, 45 per cent, say it has made them poorer.

“There is, obviously, a big divide beneath the surface, with Leavers generally indifferent to the economic effects of Brexit and Remainers being far more convinced Brexit has made them poorer, which reflects the power of confirmation bias in surveys and polling.

“But this is yet another challenge to the Brexiteers, the fact that very few people see economic benefits deriving from their decision to leave the EU.”.

When asked if they felt it was the right or wrong decision to leave the EU, 49 per cent told People Polling it was the wrong move, while 30 per cent said it was right. Among people who voted Leave in 2016, 69 per cent said it was the right decision.

A strong generational divide in the public was also identified in the polling results.

Among the 18-24 age group, who could not vote in 2016, 51 per cent say it was the wrong decision and 24 per cent say it was the right decision.

Among those aged 65 or over, 40 per cent say it was the wrong decision and 45 per cent say it was the right decision.

The Union flag colours projected onto 10 Downing Street, London, after the UK left the European Union
Aaron Chown

Prof Goodwin added: “What we see here is clear evidence of growing ‘Bregret’ among the British public. There is a growing sense among a rising number of voters that voting to Leave the EU was the wrong call, perhaps because the government has failed to highlight the advantages of Brexit, and has continued to preside over things which many Leavers oppose.

“These include things like record levels of immigration, and because Brexit is now becoming intimately associated in the public mindset with the escalating economic chaos, even if it may not be the direct cause of that chaos.”