Dear John,

Three quarters of Brits want a trade deal with the EU.

And a majority expect the Brexit transition period to be extended so we can get one done.

We polled more than 2,000 people to find out whether they wanted a Brexit deal and an extension to the Brexit transition period. Our findings were encouraging, but not unexpected.

As our polling shows, extending transition to get a deal with the EU is the obvious path forward. It’s what the public want and it’s what the country needs. You can read the full analysis of our new data on our website.

The penultimate round of UK-EU negotiations before June’s meeting of the Joint Committee is nearly over, with little progress made. It’s looking increasingly unlikely a deal can be ironed out in the time left.

Yet we’ve found the public is overwhelmingly in favour of securing a trade deal with Europe. This includes 64% of Conservative voters and 57% of Leave voters.

The transition period was designed to give us time to secure a comprehensive trade deal with the EU and make preparations for it to come into effect. Coronavirus has completely decimated this timeline.

With the world still in the grip of a pandemic, 59% of British people fully expect there to be an extension to the Brexit transition period.

The only reasonable option for our government is to extend and secure the public the trade deal they were promised. Read our full report on the new polling below.

EU officials have made it clear a no-deal Brexit has become more likely due to the coronavirus crisis. This will be a terrifying prospect to the businesses and communities still reeling from the pandemic. 

It is in no-one’s interest to stick the arbitrary timetable, devised back when global lockdown was unthinkable. It’s up to the Government to reclaim the time stolen by coronavirus by extending the transition period, and avoid no-deal at all costs. 

Best wishes,

Naomi Smith
CEO, Best for Britain