Politically, a ‘hard Brexit’ is soft option
LITTLE more than three months after Britain’s decision in June to leave the European Union, Brexit politics are careening out of control in the UK. An almost revolutionary — and very un-British — dynamic has taken hold, and, as British prime minister Theresa May indicated in her “Little Englander” speech at the Conservative Party conference this month, the UK is heading for a “hard Brexit”. That outcome would run counter to British public opinion, which remains moderate on the question of fully breaking with the EU.
According to a July BBC/ComRes poll, 66% of respondents considered “maintaining access to the single market” to be more important than restricting freedom of movement. In an ICM poll the same month, only 10% of respondents said they would prioritise ending free movement over maintaining access to the single market, while 30% viewed the two as equally important and 38% considered maintaining full access to the single market the priority.
