Brexit voters would rather cut Northern Ireland loose than stay in customs union, poll finds

Two thirds of people who voted to leave the EU would be prepared to accept a hard border in Northern Ireland if it meant ditching the customs union after Brexit, a poll has suggested.

Polling by Lord Ashcroft, the Conservative peer, found that six in 10 Leave voters would prefer to see Britain leave the European Union over keeping the UK together.

Overall, only a third of voters in Britain said it would be completely unacceptable for Northern Ireland to have a different status in the EU from the rest of the UK.

Almost as many said that while the outcome would not be ideal, but would be “tolerable” in order to get a sensible Brexit deal.

The polling found that faced with a “straight choice”, 41 per cent of UK voters said they would rather leave the customs union than avoid a hard Irish border. The figure rose to two thirds among Conservative and Leave voters.

It comes after Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, suggested at a private dinner that the Irish border issue was being deliberately used to frustrate Brexit.

In a leaked recording of his address, Mr Johnson said: “It [the Irish border] is so small and there are so few firms that actually use that border regularly, it’s just beyond belief that we’re allowing the tail to wag the dog in this way. We’re allowing the whole of our agenda to be dictated by this folly.”

Eurosceptics have raised repeated concerns that an “Irish backstop” will be used to keep Britain tied to the customs union indefinitely if there is no resolution on the Irish border issue.

Lord Ashcroft’s polling suggests that there is mounting frustration with the pace of Brexit negotiations. Three quarters of Leave voters and 55 per cent of those who voted Remain believe that decisions about Britain’s future are happening too slowly.

The UK still remains firmly divided by Brexit. Two thirds of Leave voters believe that a longer implementation period after Brexit would be “an excuse for staying in the EU as long as possible”, while three quarters of Remain voters are prepared to accept a longer implementation period.

Mr Johnson’s views are echoed by Lord Ashcroft.

Writing in The  Telegraph, he says: “Given this combination of views – impatience with the process, determination for the UK to be able to operate an independent trade policy, and the suspicion that opponents of Brexit are deliberately throwing up hurdles – it is not hard to imagine how Leave voters would react if told the UK would not be taking back as much control as they hoped because of the Irish border, an issue they strongly suspect is being blown out of proportion.”

He concludes: “There is another risk: that a question like the Irish border, which most Leave voters see as a relatively minor practical issue that could surely be resolved, should prevent the majority getting the Brexit they think they voted for.”

The polling also found that only eight per cent of Leave voters in the UK said they had changed their mind, compared to 25 per cent of Remain voters who now believe it is right for Britain to Leave.

In Northern Ireland, polling of Unionists found that avoiding a hard border was less of a priority than ensuring that the UK is able to negotiate its own free trade deals and is no longer bound by EU rules. 

Three quarters of voters in Ireland believe that the UK has made a “terrible mistake” by voting to leave.