The Independent: Majority of Brexit experts believe Theresa May will get her deal through Commons, poll reveals

15 February 2019

A total of 60% of respondents said they believed Ms May was likely to get her deal approved by MPs, the survey by The UK in a Changing Europe initiative found, a significant increase from previous polls.

The majority of the country’s Brexit experts believe Theresa May will get her deal through the House of Commons, a new poll seen by The Independentreveals.

The Brexit policy panel, a cross-disciplinary group of some of the 100 most prominent academics on the issue, were asked to forecast what would happen in the coming months as Britain prepares to leave the European Union. 

A total of 60 per cent of respondents said they believed Ms May was likely to get her deal approved by MPs, the survey by The UK in a Changing Europe initiative found, a significant increase from previous polls.

Interestingly only 40 per cent of the panel believed the prime minister would be able to secure support by 29 March – the date Britain is set to the leave the European Union – indicating a significant proportion believe an extension to Article 50 might be required.

Dr Alan Wager, research associate for The UK in a Changing Europe, said the experts believe MPs will be in a position to either vote for Ms May’s proposal or risk the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal.

“Our expert panel think Ms May’s withdrawal deal, which looked dead after a historic defeat, has miraculously returned to life,” Dr Wager told The Independent.

“This is because, as other options begin to fall away, for many MPs it remains the least worst outcome.

“Unless the House of Commons is willing to vote to take the process out of the government’s hands, it is increasingly likely to be faced with a simple choice: Theresa May’s deal, or no deal at all.” [...]

Full article on The Independent

Panel survey results


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