Keir Starmer's bid to cosy up to the European Union has fallen at the first hurdle as a bombshell report has exposed a fatal flaw in his plan.
The setback comes as the Prime Minister attends an EU summit dinner in a bid to try and reset relations with the bloc.
He is the first UK prime minister to attend such an occasion since Brexit in 2020 - with his appearance cited as evidence that Brexit "didn't work".
He's said to be considering opening discussions with the EU regarding visa-free travel for those under 30 - a clear overture to rapprochement as the bloc has maintained that without “free movement for young people”, a reset is non-negotiable.
Starmer will be buoyed by recent polling, which indicates that public sentiment has shifted five years after Britain left the bloc.
Brexit reset dismantled in damning new report
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The new polling from Redfield & Wilton confirms that 57 per cent of the electorate would now vote to rejoin the EU, with just 43 per cent backing staying out.
Indeed, voters have consistently been more likely to say Brexit was the wrong decision rather than the right one since 2020.
For over three years now, at least 40 per cent of people have said Brexit has has had a negative impact on the UK.
Even some of those who voted Leave in 2016 are willing to tolerate closer UK-EU relations if this implies tangible benefits, such as cheaper food or smoother travel, polling shows.
However, a new report entitled The Brexit Files, published on Tuesday by the UK in a Changing Europe, a pro-European initiative, has revealed how Starmer's bid to please everyone with his Brexit reset risks pleasing no one.
As the report explains, Starmer largely has pro-EU voters to thank for his landslide victory last July, so he doesn't want to rock the boat with this voter base.
"Yet shifting the red lines would not be without political risk. While voters’ attitudes toward Brexit may have become more pragmatic, there are still lines they are unwilling to cross – namely on ‘sovereignty’ and freedom of movement," the report states.
Indeed, Leave voters still regard these perceived advantages as greater than the disadvantages of leaving the bloc.
Most alarmingly of all for Starmer is that many ardent Remainers feel queasy about an ever-closer union agenda too.
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British Social Attitudes data suggest that scepticism about the EU is still widespread
GETTYBritish Social Attitudes data suggest that scepticism about the EU is still widespread – nearly half of those who would vote to be part of the EU would like the institution to be less powerful than it is at present.
If changes on these fronts were broached, even in pursuit of something relatively popular such as economic growth or the ability of Britons to travel or work in Europe, "opposition parties would be likely to cry Brexit betrayal! with consequences that are hard to predict", the report warns.
