Yahoo News Half of Brits now think that Brexit will be delayed
49% of British people think that Brexit is going to be delayed, according to new research from YouGov.
Asked what they thought was now the most likely Brexit outcome, just 12% of people believe Britain will quit the EU on 29 March with a deal.
19% think that a no-deal Brexit will happen on 29 March and 20% said they didn’t know.
The survey was carried out after Theresa May opened up the possibility of a Brexit delay last week after months of denials that she would countenance the idea.
She told the House of Commons that if MPs rejected her Brexit deal again in another ‘meaningful vote’, they would be given the opportunity to vote on whether to leave the EU without a deal, followed by a vote on delaying Brexit by extending Article 50 – the legal mechanism by which a country terminates its membership of the EU over the course of two years.
MPs will vote on whether they support the deal Mrs May agreed with the EU on 12 March and are set to vote on delaying Brexit in the following days.
Even before the PM announced the vote on delaying Brexit, a third of MPs already thought the UK would push back the exit date.
A poll of MPs carried out by Yahoo News UK and YouGov just before the announcement found 9% of MPs thought it was ‘very unlikely’ Brexit will happen by the deadline and 20% thought it is ‘unlikely’ the UK will leave on this date.
Just less than a third, 29% said it was ‘very likely’ Brexit will happen on 29 March and a further 36% thought it is ‘likely’ to happen.
Pro-EU MPs were far less confident than Eurosceptics that the Government will stick to its Brexit deadline, with twice as many Remainers (38%) as Leavers (19%) thinking it is likely Brexit will be delayed.
The PM is expected to lose the vote on her deal next week after failing to secure concessions from the EU over the Irish Backstop – the back-up mechanism to prevent a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland if a free trade agreement cannot be reached in time.
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has been in Brussels this week trying to persuade the EU to alter the arrangement, which Brexiteers say could trap the UK into abiding by EU rules without a say in them.
As discussion stalled an EU diplomat told The Sun: “The Cox version of the backstop is based on no apparent understanding of the Withdrawal Agreement, customs procedure or EU law. It will never fly with Member States.
“He wants a legal fix to a political issue. If this is the game plan, I fear we’d better prepare for no deal.”
