Brexit: Among British voters, there was clear support for a closer relationship with the EU, a report has found. Photograph: DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Imageswould now accept a return to free movement in exchange for access to the single market, according to a cross-Europe study that also found a reciprocal desire in member states for closer links with the UK.
This could be because the surge in net migration to the UK after 2016 meant that Brexit was no longer seen by its supporters as the answer on immigration, the report suggested. The report argued that while EU politicians and officials have been sceptical about the idea of offering any special terms to the UK, and Mr Starmer and his government are similarly cautious about pushing for improved ties, public opinion in the UK and Europe appeared significantly different from those stances.
“It is important to recognise that Brexit and the UK-EU future relationship matters more to UK respondents than to citizens of other states. But there is broad permission from European publics to recast relations,” the report said. There was similarly widespread backing among EU nationals for allowing some post-Brexit economic concessions in exchange for more co-operation on particularly important areas such as common security.