Poll reveals voters want Keir Starmer to focus on rebuilding trade ties with EU
2903 Mins Read
A clear majority of UK voters want the government to concentrate on rebuilding trade ties with the EU over forging a new economic deal with the US, according to research published over the weekend.
The study, based on analysis of polling that used new methods of questioning participants, suggests people of voting age now see their economic interests, and the UK’s, as far more closely linked to open trade relations with our EU neighbours than any deals that Keir Starmer might or might not strike with the US.
The analysis shows how far the UK public has turned back in favour of the EU since the Brexit referendum, and it indicates the trend could be strengthened as a result of the economic turmoil unleashed by US president Donald Trump’s tariff announcements and resulting global financial panic over recent days.
Commissioned by the internationalist thinktank Best for Britain, the research found that 53% of voters now believe a closer relationship with the EU will have a positive effect on the UK economy, against just 13% who said the effect would be negative. In turn, 68% believed better relations with the EU would boost UK/EU trade in a clearly positive way.
Asked what they believed Keir Starmer’s priorities should be for a UK-EU summit in May, at which the prime minister and EU leaders will discuss moves to increase post-Brexit cooperation, the most popular answer was “trade between the UK and the EU”, which came out narrowly ahead of “illegal immigration across the channel” and, in third place, “improving the UK’s and EU’s defence and security”. Even among people who said they would consider voting for Reform UK at the next election, half (48%) said closer EU ties would have a positive impact on trade, with the same number saying it would make travel for Britons easier across Europe. This compares with one in 10 (11%) potential Reform voters who said it would have a negative impact on either.
When voters were given 20 options and asked to choose four that the government should focus on improving, “the UK’s ability to sign new trade deals with the USA” came 17th. The cost of living came top, followed by immigration and asylum, the UK economy and economic growth, energy costs, UK defence, and trade between the UK and was EU in sixth place.
The study also found that a majority (62%) understand that the government is seeking a closer relationship with the EU. Far more people also thought the government was not going far enough to rebuild ties (35%) than those who thought the current approach was correct (15%). Among Labour’s winning coalition at the last election, a clear majority believed the government was not going far enough (54%).
A sample of 4,703 people responded to YouGov between 31 March and 2 April, just as Trump was beginning to unveil his tariff plans, which have panicked the global final financial markets and opened the prospect of a bitter and prolonged trade war between the world’s two biggest economies, the US and China.
