Four in 10 back second referendum offering in-out Brexit choice

More than four in 10 Brits would support a second Brexit referendum offering a choice between a deal or staying in the EU, according to one of the largest polls conducted on the subject.

Some 20,000 people were questioned by Channel 4 ahead of a live televised debate that will see senior politicians who supported both Leave and remain in 2016 go head to head about the UK’s decision to quit the EU.

Justice minister David Gauke, shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner, Green MP Caroline Lucas and Ukip MEP Nigel Farage will take part in Brexit: What The Nation Really Thinks, which will be broadcast tonight.

The programme will reveal the headline findings from the survey carried out by Survation. Ahead of the broadcast the channel released a snapshot of data before the programme aired which revealed that views on a second referendum depended on the choice on offer.

Some 43% said they would support a second referendum that was a binary choice between a deal and staying in, with 37% opposing a vote on those terms.

But while it was backed by 63% of people who voted Remain, it was backed by just 20% of Leave voters.

A referendum that offered a choice between a Theresa May deal or a no-deal Brexit was supported by 38% of respondents but opposed by 39%, with 23% “don’t knows”.

And a third choice, between accepting the deal or reopening talks with a view to getting a better deal was supported by 39%, and opposed by 37%.

Labour MP Virendra Sharma, a champion of the anti-Brexit campaign group Best for Britain, said: “The public are calling for a second vote, so it would be a failure of democracy to not offer one. Will Theresa May honour the will of the people to have a final say on Brexit?

“We must put this decision back into the hands of the people through a public vote on the final Brexit deal. People must be given the choice between the Brexit terms which May negotiates, or staying in our current bespoke deal with the EU.”

Brexit: What The Nation Really Thinks will be broadcast at 8pm tonight