A recent poll by the British governmental agency YouGov showed that a majority of Britons now backs a return in the European Union’s single market and are not against restoration of free movement of people, a complete U-turn from one of Brexit’s main reason.
The poll was published Wednesday. According to it, 57% of Britons are in favour of joining the single market, even if it will mean having free movement of people from the EU. Blocking immigration from the bloc was one of Brexit strongest points. However, recent data showed that annual net migration to the United Kingdom reached record levels last year, doubling pre-Brexit figures.
The poll showed that support for rejoining the single market is highly divided along political lines. Around 53% of possible voters of the Labour Party that backed Brexit are in favour, with 31% against. For possible voters of the Conservative Party, 29% supports returning to the single market, while 54% are against it.
Overall, voters of both major parties favour closer ties with the European Union. According to the same poll, 72% of Britons support this position, regardless of political affiliation.
The next UK general election is expected at the beginning of 2025. Currently, polls show that the Labour Party are on course to win. Labour leader Keir Starmer stated that he will not push for a return in the EU single market.
