Fewer than half of Britons think Brexit is 'done'

Boris Johnson’s vow to ‘Get Brexit Done’ in 2019 has not been delivered, according to more than half of Britons.

The prime minister focused on Brexit during the general election two years ago, with the promise to deliver on the result of the 2016 referendum credited as one of the reasons for the Tories winning a huge majority.

But in a YouGov poll of 3,525 adults, less than a third (28%) of all voters believe that Brexit has been delivered, with 21% saying they didn’t know.

Just over half (51%) said they felt Brexit has not been delivered, two years on from when Britain officially left the European Union (EU).

The results of the survey also show that most Leave voters (46%) believe Brexit has not been delivered, compared to 40% who say it has.

It comes as Johnson hinted parts of the Brexit deal could be ripped up over a row on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Draft legislation to unilaterally remove the need for checks on all goods being sent from Britain for use in Northern Ireland are reportedly being worked on by ministers.

The proposed law would allow businesses in Northern Ireland to disregard EU rules and regulations and remove the power of the European Court of Justice to rule on issues relating to the region.

Watch: Gove: NI Protocol can respect EU Single Market and UK Internal Market

Crucially, it would in parts override the protocol agreed by Johnson in 2019 and mean the UK had breached its obligations under the Brexit agreement.

But it has been argued that the protocol will not be completely overridden, with measures being considered to ease the issues on the ground in Northern Ireland.

Foreign secretary Liz Truss will hold crunch talks with the vice president of the European Commission on Thursday, while attorney general Suella Braverman is said to have approved the scrapping of swathes of the agreement.

Prisons minister Victoria Atkins said the Northern Ireland Protocol is creating “political instability” but insisted she believed “the EU will listen to our arguments”.

Atkins told Sky News: “I’m convinced we will be able to find a solution to this because I’m sure that the EU will listen to our arguments, but I think it’s right we review this.”

On Wednesday, Johnson said the Good Friday Agreement was more important than the Northern Ireland Protocol as he dismissed suggestions of any possible escalatory response from the EU as “crazy”.

He said there was no need for “drama” but doubled down on hints he could override elements of the deal.

Truss is expected to tell European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic in a call on Thursday morning that the dispute over Northern Ireland cannot drag on.

She had warned she would “not shy away” from taking action as she accused the EU of proposing solutions that would “take us backwards”.

There have been suggestions that unilateral action by the UK could spark a trade war against the backdrop of the invasion of Ukraine.

But Johnson told BBC News on Wednesday: “Let’s face it, we’re talking about really, in the scheme of things, a very, very small part of the whole European economy, and I think 0.4% of the value of the whole of the EU economy in Northern Ireland.

“It is crazy. I didn’t think there’s any need for drama. This is something that just needs to be fixed.”