Majority of Brits are unsatisfied with UK's Brexit deal

A majority of Britons have expressed disapproval of Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, a new study has found - Credit: PA

A majority of the public is unhappy about the post-Brexit trade agreement that Boris Johnson secured with the EU, a new survey has found.

The report, published by the British Foreign Policy Group, an independent think tank advocating for a stronger UK global presence, shows that under a quarter of respondents believed the prime minister’s deal is “the best framework for our relationship with the EU moving forward”.

In the first detailed survey since Britain officially left the single market on January 1, twice as many Brits (53%) said they believed the U.K.-EU relationship was more important to Britain than the “special relationship” with America (27%).

Another 49% would prefer a closer U.K.-EU relationship than the Brexit deal provided while 27% wanted a closer partnership with a view of rejoining and only 12% preferred a further separation from Europe.

The 24% who backed the deal said it was the best one the government could get for the “foreseeable future”. Some 15% said they did not know.

The survey, which was conducted on behalf of BFPG by pollster Opinium, asked 2,002 British citizens questions ranging from what they thought of Johnson’s Brexit deal to how much they really cared about the so-called “special relationship” with the United States.

Some 49% of respondents did not trust the UK government on foreign policy, compared to 39% who did, putting a dint into Johnson’s hope of promoting a “global Britain” after Brexit.

“Our research makes clear that building public consent around the Global Britain project will be one of the central tests, and biggest challenges, that Boris Johnson will face in his premiership,” said Sophia Gaston, director of the BFPG. “The Conservative Party’s voter base is in a state of evolution, and is moving away from the prime minister’s own instincts towards internationalism and openness. Meanwhile, many other voters are repelled by Global Britain’s associations with Brexit.”

She added: “I’m optimistic that a once-in-a-generation project to bring the country together around a common vision for the UK’s role in the world can succeed, but it will be a hard slog to realize this ambition.”