More British voters support no-deal Brexit: Poll

A UK flag flies from a pole as construction cranes stand near skyscrapers in the City of London, October 21, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

More than a third of British voters say they would support leaving the European Union without striking any deals with the bloc, a new poll has found.

The survey published by Opinium on Sunday showed that 37 percent of Brits wanted UK Prime Minister Theresa May to walk away from Brexit negotiations without a deal, a possibility that she has not ruled out.

This is while 25 percent of voters favored Brexit but wanted May to push for the current plan, which involves a transition period after the negotiations until a satisfactory deal is struck about Britain’s access to the EU single market.

The poll also showed that 23 percent of voters were opposed to the whole idea of Brexit and wanted to stay in the EU.

Although her government is under fire for lacking a specific roadmap to reach a divorce agreement with the EU before the March 2019 deadline, May has time and again made it clear that Brexit is a certainty and would eventually happen with or without a deal.

May has also been trying to contain a deepening row within her cabinet over what the terms of a possible deal with the EU should be.

The infighting has become apparent over the past weeks, with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and a number of other ministers contradicting each other about a range of issues, including the amount of a divorce bill that EU officials say the UK must pay.

The divorce bill is one of the three key EU concerns that May’s government has failed to address so far, with EU citizens’ rights and Northern Ireland's border being the other two.

Speaking on Thursday at an EU summit in Brussels, May conceded that EU talks were in trouble and said she “recognized the difficulty the process was in.”

The government’s chaotic approach has angered the Tory government’s opponents in the Labour Party, allowing party leader Jeremy Corbyn to challenge May’s leadership by expressing readiness to take over the negotiations.

Corbyn, who met with EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on a visit to the Belgian capital on Thursday, said after the meeting that European leaders were “bemused and confused” by Britain’s attitude.

“I think there is a lot of bemusement ... Their message is that they want clarity,” he said. “They want to know what is going to happen on this, and our message to the British government is exactly that.”