The number of Brits who would support rejoining the EU was at its highest level this year since the 2016 referendum, a survey has found.
YouGov’s Brexit tracker survey has concluded that 58% of people in Britain would now vote to rejoin the bloc.
This is only slightly below the record highs of the 60% of voters who would back rejoining the EU back in February 2023.
And while 51% of British respondents also said in April they didn’t think it was likely the UK would be back in the EU any time soon, this group has diminished over the years – in 2021, 62% thought it was unlikely.
YouGov also found in April that, for the first time on record, more Brits were optimistic about the EU’s future (41%) than not (36%) – and 25% even said they trust the European Commission more than their own government (24%).
That’s after years of Brexiteers bashing Brussels throughout the messy and painful trade negotiations.
Meanwhile the number of people suggesting Brexit would have a negative impact on the British economy is going up. It was at 58% in April, having been at 50% in 2021.
The survey also looked into what other European nations thought about staying in or getting out of the EU in May.
Around 62% of French respondents and 63% of Italian respondents said they would not support following the UK and leaving the bloc.
Approximately 87% of survey participants in Spain said they would support staying in the EU, compared to 79% in Denmark, 80% in Sweden and 69% in Germany.
YouGov’s tracker revealed that support for the EU has increased among its member nations since Russia invaded its smaller neighbour to the west – Ukraine – amid Moscow’s worries that it was becoming too closely aligned with the US and European allies.
Ukraine itself has campaigned to join the EU, as well as NATO, with some officials hoping to be part of the bloc within two years.