New polling and recent by-elections signal Britain has turned its back on Brexit, the former minister for Europe Denis MacShane has said.
Writing in The Globalist, MacShane said the speed in which the tide has turned on the decision to exit the European Union shows that the UK could rejoin sooner than many believed was possible.
According to YouGov polling, a majority (55 per cent) of Brits say they would vote to rejoin the EU if a new referendum to reverse the decision of the one in 2016 were to be held.
Just three in ten (31 per cent) say that they would vote to Leave. This gives a headline voting intention of 64 per cent to 36 per cent.
Significantly, an overwhelming number (86 per cent) of those aged under 25 (who may not have been eligible to vote in 2016) say they would rejoin, suggesting momentum is with the pro-EU lobby.
Recent by-elections also show that no one any longer believes the line of the last 5 Tory prime ministers that the EU was bad for Britain.
Other than in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, where the election was determined by localised controversy over ULEZ, the Conservatives were on the wrong end of a humiliating set of results.
As MacShane notes, “seven years after the vote to leave Europe based on 25 years of lies by a well-financed Brexit campaign with massive support in the press (including in the BBC and the comment pages of the liberal-left Guardian)”, we could have arrived at the point where voters are ready to opt back in.
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