While 27% of respondents wanted a much closer relationship with a view to reuniting and 22% wanted a closer relationship but stay out of the block, 12% want to move further away from Europe. Of the 24% of respondents who approved the deal, they did so with an important caveat that it was the best deal for the “foreseeable future.” About 15% of the respondents said they did not know.
The investigation, conducted the week after the deal went into effect on Jan. 1, is the first major temperature check of what Britons think of the reality of Brexit. Although the UK formally left the EU on March 31 last year, the transitional arrangements meant that little consequences changed until the end of December.
But since then, trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been disrupted, the UK’s financial markets have lost sales to mainland Europe, and British exporters have been forced to watch fresh produce rot as new trade barriers prevented exports in time reach the European markets.
British sentiment towards Europe remains difficult to release. In general, attitudes have softened over the past 12 months. While only a minority want to rejoin the bloc, a majority of respondents said they see the European Union as a more important international partner for the UK than the United States.
And while many younger, metropolitan voters are more pro-European than older voters, the report notes that more than a quarter of respondents who voted to leave the EU describe themselves as ‘European’.
The survey, conducted by pollster Opinium on behalf of BFPG, asked 2,002 British citizens questions ranging from what they thought about Johnson’s Brexit deal to how much they really cared about the so-called ‘special relationship’ with the United States.
Most respondents were generally positive that the UK should be active on the world stage, especially in the areas Johnson said are a priority for his government. Johnson has made it clear that he wants to use his G7 presidency this year, as well as the UK’s position as host of the United Nations climate conference, to make a statement on Britain’s commitment to international order following the Brexit.
Uncomfortable for Johnson, the report also reveals challenges to his “global Britain” agenda among British voters. The prime minister has long argued that an advantage of Brexit would be the freedom to pursue independent foreign policy in the areas of trade, environmental issues, national security, normal leadership and foreign aid.
In fact, a majority believe that UK foreign policy spending should be maintained or increased, support a multilateral approach to climate change and would like Britain to show moral leadership.
But when it comes to international relations in the round, Johnson falls behind a resounding endorsement: 49% of respondents said they did not trust the UK government on foreign policy, compared to 39% who did. About 12% did not know. It may also worry Johnson to find that the voters he was carrying away from other parties to get his 2019 victory – with his promise to “get Brexit done” – are the most isolationists.
However, she adds, “ I am optimistic that a once-in-a-generation project to bring the country together around a common vision for the UK’s role in the world could succeed, but it will be difficult to realize this ambition. . “
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the report paints a picture of a nation coming to terms with the most significant shift in its domestic and foreign agendas for decades, and unsure of what the next steps should be. And for many, it will confirm the view that the 2016 vote to leave the EU has created a new divide in British politics that somehow cannot be bridged.