The public overwhelmingly supports Theresa May’s plan for leaving the European Union but doubts that she will ultimately get what she wants.
A YouGov poll for The Times found voters to be highly positive about the ideas in the prime minister’s speech on Tuesday, endorsing her plan for Britain by a margin of more than two to one. Some 55 per cent said it would be good for Britain, 19 per cent said it would not while 26 per cent did not know.
Voters backed Mrs May’s threat to walk away from the negotiating table if the UK did not get the kind of deal it was seeking, paving the way for a disorderly and potentially costly Brexit. Some 48 per cent agreed that “no deal is better than a bad deal”, while 17 per cent thought she should be prepared to sign a deal even if it fell short of hopes.
Almost half of voters — 47 per cent — had confidence in Mrs May’s negotiating skills, while 38 per cent did not. There was pessimism that Mrs May’s demands would be met. One in five — 20 per cent — thought other EU member states would agree to the sort of deal Mrs May was proposing, while 56 per cent did not, with 25 per cent unsure.
Only 19 per cent thought that the UK needed the EU more than the EU needed the UK, with 34 per cent saying the reverse. Some 28 per cent said they needed one another equally. Overall 40 per cent believed Brexit would leave the UK worse off, with 29 per cent saying it would be better off. There was a clear lead among those believing it would leave the UK with less influence.
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Support for Mrs May has risen sharply since the speech, and the Conservatives once more have a 17-point lead. The Tories are on 42 per cent, up 3 percentage points on last week, while Labour are down 3 to 25 per cent, the Lib Dems unchanged on 11 and Ukip down 1 on 12 per cent.
YouGov interviewed 1,654 British adults this week.