Britain is on a clear “direction of travel” towards rejoining the EU, according to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
She said her generation had “goofed it up” and it was up to young people to reverse Brexit.
Her comments came after an opinion poll showed 48 per cent of the British public would vote to rejoin, compared to just 36 per cent who would not.
Asked during an interview in Brussels on Tuesday night whether Britain could ever rejoin the EU, von der Leyen said: “I must say, I keep telling my children: ‘You have to fix it. We goofed it up, you have to fix it.’
“So I think here too, the direction of travel — my personal opinion — is clear.”
Responding to her comments, Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson said the government was “committed to reaping the benefits of Brexit”.
He said: “We are delivering on Brexit. We are focussed on the benefits Brexit can bring.
“It’s through our Brexit freedoms that we are strengthening our migration system.”
A spokesperson for Keir Starmer said: “We’ve set out our position very clearly on that, we’re not rejoining the single market or the customs union. We’re not returning to freedom of movement.
“Of course we want a good working relationship with the European Union, we want to improve some of the issues that there are on subjects like trade, but no, we’re not rejoining in any form.”