New poll finds the British public now wants a soft Brexit

REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski

Prime Minister Theresa May

• NEW POLL: A soft, Norway-style Brexit is the most popular form of Brexit among British people.
• A Brexit based on Britain keeping close ties with the single market was deemed more acceptable than any other Brexit model.
• A no-deal Brexit - in which Britain crash out onto WTO rules - was the least popular.
• MPs will vote on amendments relating to the single market and customs union this month.

LONDON - A soft Brexit in which Britain retains close ties to the EU, is now the most popular form of Brexit among British people, according to a new poll.

Opinium research suggests that the so-called Norway option would be received better by the public than any other Brexit model - including Theresa May's policy of a free trade deal similar to that between the EU and Canada.

By contrast leaving the EU without a deal, which is an option pushed by a growing number of Conservative MPs, is the least popular option with the public, with just 8% saying it would be a "completely acceptable" outcome.

Norway is not in the EU but has full access to the European single market through its membership of the European Economic Area (EEA).

The Opinium poll shows that the British public is in favour of Prime Minister May pursuing a tweaked version of the Norway model. 57% described "EEA with restrictions" as acceptable, while 29% said it would be unacceptable.

This poll comes as May prepares to meet Norweigan Prime Minister Erna Solberg on Wednesday. Solberg said last month that she'd be open to Britain joining EFTA, the group which would be Britain's way into the EEA.

As BI reported last month, Labour's Brexit team is seeking to maintain very close ties with EU markets through a revised version of the Norway-option. Opinium's research suggests that this policy would be popular among the public.

Here is each Brexit model Opinium used broken down by public acceptability:

Opinium

The least popular Brexit model was a no-deal scenario in which Britain would crash out of the EU with no arrangement in place and revert to WTO trading rules. 48% of respondents said this would be unacceptable.

This finding casts doubt over whether Prime Minister May's long-standing mantra of "no deal is better than a bad deal" is supported by the British public.

Replicating the Norway-model in its current form was the second most popular Brexit mode. "Full EEA member" was deemed acceptable by 46% of people, while 40% said it would be unacceptable.

In April, the parliamentary Brexit committee advised May to adopt the Norway-model as her official Brexit fallback option. More recently, MP George Freeman - who used to head May's policy unit - said it's "surely time to start looking" at staying inside the single market via EEA membership.