There is strong public support for a 2nd referendum on Brexit
- There is strong public support for a referendum on the terms of the final Brexit deal.
- Forty-eight percent of Brits support a vote on the final deal, while 25% do not, according to leading pollster Survation.
- This comes as thousands of pro-second referendum campaigners prepare to march through London this weekend.
- The poll also found that Britain would vote to stay in the EU in a re-run of the 2016 referendum.
LONDON - The British public is strongly in favour of a referendum on the terms of the final Brexit deal, according to new polling published to mark the two year anniversary of the 2016 EU referendum.
A Survation poll based on the responses of 1,022 British people found that 48% support a referendum on the final deal. This included 66% of people who voted Remain in 2016 and 35% of Leave voters.
A quarter of respondents said they were opposed to a second referendum, while 18% didn't know. These results indicate strong public support for a nationwide referendum on the final deal, or what campaigners call a "people's vote."
While Survation found a considerable public appetite for another referendum, its research also shows that Brits continue to be split down the middle on key questions relating to Britain's vote to leave the EU.
Forty-three percent favoured a "soft" Brexit, in which Britain would retain close political and economic ties with the EU after it has left, while 37% wanted a "hard" Brexit, based on a quick exit followed by a distant relationship.
Respondents were also divided over the UK government's controversial suggestion that there'll be a Brexit dividend to spend on the NHS i.e money which Britain will save from no longer paying into the EU budget. Four in 10 said there would be a dividend, while 37% said there would not.
On the key question on how they'd vote in a re-run of in or out referendum of 2016, 53% of people said they'd vote Remain, while 47% said they'd back Leave. That's Remain's first lead in any Survation poll since March.
This poll indicating strong public support for another referendum comes as Brexit negotiations remain at an impasse over the thorny issue of how to preserve the frictionless border on the island of Ireland.
It also comes amid increasing anxiety among businesses about the state of negotiations. Airbus has said it is pulling investment from the UK in response to Theresa May's failure to make further progress in Brexit talks.
Thousands of people are set to march through central London on Saturday as part of a protest organised by the People's Vote campaign. The People's Vote is a cross-party organisation campaigning for a vote on the final deal.
One of the group's ambassadors is Labour MP Chuka Umunna. The MP for Streatham said the Survation poll showed "just how much momentum is building behind the campaign for a people's vote on the final Brexit deal."
He added: "With the negotiations in chaos, with the Government making a total mess of Brexit and with Parliament paralysed, now is the time for people to take back control of the process.
"This Saturday Britons from all walks of life will march on Parliament and demand a People's Vote on the final Brexit deal."