Two thirds of people believe Brexit going badly ahead of next round of talks, poll shows

Theresa May still has a long way to go before convincing people she is making a success of Brexit, with a new poll indicating almost two-thirds of the public believe talks are going badly.

The exclusive survey for The Independent by BMG Research found that less than a quarter of people think negotiations are going well.

Almost a third of those who believed talks were going badly blamed UK negotiators – twice as many as blamed the EU team handling talks.

The poll comes ahead of the next round of negotiations, expected in coming weeks, which will seek to agree terms of Britain’s transition period out of the EU.

A weighted sample of more than 1,500 people were asked: “Thinking about the Brexit negotiations between the UK and the EU, in your view, how well or badly do you feel the negotiations are going?”

Some 37 per cent said it was going “quite badly” and 24 per cent said it was going “very badly” – a total of 61 per cent thought talks were going badly to some degree.

The figure is lower than a peak of 76 per cent who thought the talks were going badly in October last year, but still leaves the Government a lot of work to do to change people’s perception.

Just two per cent of respondents in the latest poll thought Brexit negotiations were going “very well”, and only 20 per cent “quite well”, while 17 per cent did not know.

Equally worrying for ministers is that of those who believed talks were going badly, almost a third, 30 per cent, blamed Brexit Secretary David Davis and his negotiating team.

Some 48 per cent blamed both sides equally, while 16 per cent blamed Michel Barnier and his team of European negotiators.

The next round of talks due towards the end of this month will set the terms of the transition, which is expected to last two years – up to 2021.

Brussels is pushing for the UK to adhere to all EU rules and accept new regulations during the period, as well as accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

Negotiators want to have the transition agreed and to move on to the start of full talks on future trade by March.

Asked more generally how they would vote if there was a referendum on the UK’s EU membership tomorrow, 48 per cent backed Remain and 44 per cent backed Leave.

For Westminster voting intentions, the main parties remained tied, with the Tories on 33 per cent and Labour on 32 per cent. When people are pushed for a decision and “don’t knows” are excluded, the Tories are on 40 per cent and Labour on 41 per cent.

Source Note: BMG Research interviewed a representative sample of 1,513 UK adults online between 9 and 12 January. Data is weighted. BMG are members of the British Polling Council and abide by their rules. More details at www.bmgresearch.co.uk/polling.