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Theresa May’s Brexit approval ratings hit all-time low

Just 26 per cent of voters think Prime Minister will secure good deal for Britain

Benjamin Kentish
Tuesday 07 November 2017 10:48 EST
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Theresa May's approval ratings have plummeted following June's general election
Theresa May's approval ratings have plummeted following June's general election (EPA)

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Public confidence in Theresa May’s ability to secure a positive Brexit has fallen to a record low, a new poll has revealed.

More people now think the UK will be worse off if it leaves the European Union, than those who believe it will benefit the country.

Two thirds or 66 per cent of voters say they disapprove of the way the Government is handling Brexit negotiations, compared to just 34 per cent who approve.

When the same poll was conducted at the start of the general election campaign in May, 45 per cent thought the Government had adopted the wrong approach to Brexit.

The way Ms May’s own approval ratings on Brexit have plummeted is also likely to cause alarm in Downing Street.

Only 26 per cent of voters now think the Prime Minister will “get the right deal for Britain in the Brexit negotiations” - down from 44 per cent in June. Almost 50 per cent disagree with the statement.

The poll, conducted by ORB International for The Telegraph, comes days before David Davis and the rest of the UK’s negotiating team head to Brussels for the latest round of talks that many fear have stalled.

It echoes an exclusive poll for The Independent which found last month that a majority of Britons think Brexit negotiations are going badly.

As the lack of progress in talks so far threatens to delay negotiations on a trade deal with the EU, the Prime Minister is facing a series of scandals at home that threaten to distract from the Brexit process.

Her Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, was forced to resign last week amid allegations he had behaved inappropriately towards female journalists and cabinet colleagues.

The Prime Minister’s deputy, Damian Green, is also facing accusations that he behaved inappropriately towards a female activist, a claim he has called "completely false".

Ms May's most senior minister has also denied a claim that police found pornography on a computer in his office during a raid in 2008.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, is facing calls to resign after making a false statement about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratliff, a British citizen who is being detained in Iran.

He claimed that Ms Zaghari-Ratliff had been “training journalists” in the country risks her being imprisoned for a further five years.

The International Development Secretary, Priti Patel, is also facing calls to quit and was forced to apologise after revelations that she had travelled to Israel and met with the country's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, without having notified Downing Street or the Foreign Office.

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