A paltry 8% of Leave voters would back Labour if an election was held tomorrow
Labour is working to ‘reset’ relations with the EU which alarms Brexiteers (Image: Getty Images)
Sir Keir Starmer has been warned the “stench of betrayal” will “hang around his neck” if he tries to reverse Brexit as polling shows the decision to leave the European Union remains one of the most important dividing lines in British politics – with half of Leave voters now planning to vote for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
The polling comes as Sir Keir faces pressure within Labour to forge a closer relationship between the UK and the European Union.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former Conservative Leader of the House of Commons warned him against unpicking Brexit, saying: “This opinion poll shows that Brexit is still important to voters. If Starmer tries to reverse it by stealth, he would find he loses even more votes and the stench of betrayal would hang around his neck.”
As the country nears the 10th anniversary of the vote to leave the EU, the division between Remain and Leave voters remains stark. Pollsters YouGov found that while half of Leave voters intend to vote for Reform this is the case for a mere 7% of those who backed Remain.
A paltry 8% of Leave voters would back Labour if an election was held tomorrow, while 28% of Remainers would support Sir Keir Starmer’s party.
Labour was the most popular choice among Remain voters, ahead of the Liberal Democrats (21%), the Greens (19%) and the Conservatives (15%).
Kemi Badenoch’s Tories were the second most popular choice after Reform for Brexiteers (26%). Conservative strategists will be heartened they were the only party to command double-digit support among both Leave and Remain voters.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nigel Farage were two of Britain’s highest profile Brexiteers (Image: Getty Images)
Veteran Brexiteer John Longworth, who co-chaired the Leave Means Leave campaign, cautioned against any push to rejoin the EU, saying: “Brexit is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Britain to thrive. The avoidance of EU costs in excess of £30billion and superior trade deals are already reaping benefits to offset the ineptitude of the current Government. Those parties saying they would rejoin the EU are the ones incapable of creating economic growth; it is the politics of desperation.
“Getting closer to Europe would drag us down.”
John Longworth argues Britain is already reaping benefits of Brexit (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice attacked both Labour and the Tories, saying: “Keir Starmer’s Government has effectively given up on pretending they respect the Brexit vote.”
He accused Labour of “edging Britain back under EU control with a customs deal” and proposals for a “UK-EU youth mobility scheme that weakens our borders”.
Mr Tice added: “And let’s not forget the Conservatives, who betrayed 17.4 million Brexit voters and failed to strip Brussels rules from British law. This polling proves that only Reform UK stands with patriotic Britons to fully deliver Brexit, and finally take back control of Britain’s borders and laws.”
Labour was invited to comment.
