[ad_1]
The public has given overwhelming applause to the Brexit trade deal, only 17 percent saying they think it will be “good” for the country.
Even among Leave voters, only 27 percent said in a poll that the deal was a success, and only one in three Conservative supporters said it was.
But YouGov found that a majority of Brits want MPs to approve the deal in the Commons today, by a wide margin of 57% to 9%.
The results are a significant blow to Boris Johnson, as he told MPs that it was a “fantastic” deal that had accomplished something “that they told us was impossible.”
The 1,255-page deal is sure to go through Parliament, with the support of Labor and Conservatives backing Brexit, and will go into effect on New Year’s Day.
The poll shows that the public supports the view that the deal should be approved now, with less than 48 hours for the UK to leave the single market and the EU customs union.
Even nearly half of Labor voters want MPs to vote for him, in line with Keir Starmer’s controversial decision to back him, four times the 12 percent who want him blocked.
But that doesn’t mean approval of the terms is secured, amid criticism for the huge gaps they leave for service industries, the City of London, touring musicians and even the fishing industry.
The deal also means a mountain of new red tape for traders crossing the English Channel, who must fill out 200 million new customs forms, and long queues are expected at the approaches to the port of Kent.
It will also leave the UK significantly poorer than the EU membership, according to most economic analysts, slashing 4-5 per cent of national income in the coming years.
In the Commons, the prime minister said his deal would provide “certainty” for companies, protecting jobs after months of disputes that had threatened a no-deal exit.
He also argued that he had managed to have our cake and eat it, by managing “to trade and cooperate with our EU neighbors in the closest possible terms, while retaining sovereign control of our laws and our national destiny.”
“We are going to open a new chapter in our national history, achieving free trade agreements around the world and reaffirming the global UK as an outward-looking liberal force forever,” Johnson said.
But Sir Keir, while confirming that Labor would vote with the government, warned of “significant and permanent burdens on British business.”
Warning that “the lack of ambition here is surprising”, added the Labor leader: “It will make it more difficult to sell services in the EU.
“So we wonder if the Prime Minister didn’t try to get a solid deal to protect our service economy or did he try and fail. Which?
* YouGov surveyed 7,999 adults in Britain on December 29-30.
