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Just one in seven trust parliament on Brexit, new poll reveals

BayRadio | October 16, 2019

Trust in MPs to make the right decisions on Brexit is at rock bottom, according to a new poll for Sky News.

Just one in seven people said they trusted parliament at all when it came to the Brexit issue, and one in 100 currently trust politicians “a lot”.

Boris Johnson is trusted by around a third of the public – 32% – to make the right calls on Brexit, but that rises to two-thirds (64%) of Conservative voters.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is trusted by just 16% of the public on the issue, compared with 76% who do not trust him.

But in a finding likely to deepen concerns at the top of the party about its Brexit message, only 36% of Labour’s 2017 voters trust their leader on Brexit, with former Leavers particularly sceptical.

When asked about their trust in parliament as a whole on Brexit, only 14% of those polled said they trust MPs and peers to deliver the right outcome, compared with 77% who do not.

Just 1% trust parliamentarians “a lot”.

The findings, from a poll of 1,632 adults by YouGov for Sky News, lay bare how three-and-a-half years of grinding negotiations since the 2016 referendum have worn down public trust in politicians.

It was carried out last Wednesday and Thursday, shortly after a scathing assessment of Britain’s proposals by senior EU figures, and predictions that a Brexit deal was out of reach.

But hopes were dramatically raised on Thursday afternoon, following a closed doors meeting between Mr Johnson and Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar at a country house in Merseyside.

It ended with Mr Varadkar stating that he could “see a pathway to a possible Brexit deal” by 31 October, although he conceded that there are still many challenges to overcome.

Amid accusations from some EU figures that Britain is trying to blame the European side for a breakdown in talks, the poll found 46% of UK adults believe the EU has treated Britain unfairly, compared with 31% who believe the EU has been fair and 23% who did not know.

With 18 days to go until the deadline which the prime minister has described as “do or die”, a sizeable 41% of voters believe leaving with no deal is the best option if negotiations fail, the poll found.

Levels of support for no-deal outweighed those for remaining in the EU, at 33%, meanwhile just 14% of the public said they hope negotiations would continue to find another solution.

Among Conservatives, support for a no-deal Brexit is far higher, at 70%, but only a quarter of Labour voters – who Boris Johnson hopes to woo in an election – feel it would be the best outcome.

Nonetheless just 3% of the public believe a no-deal Brexit will leave them better off financially, and 40% believe they will actually be worse off.

A majority of Conservatives believe it will make no difference, with Labour and Lib Dem voters more likely to believe they will be poorer.

Written by BayRadio


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