Almost three years ago the UK voted in favour of leaving the EU. Yet the original departure date of 29 March has been delayed and the government is searching for a way forward. Among increasingly chaotic news cycles, what do the majority of the UK's voters now think about Brexit?
The trouble for the UK government and PM Theresa May is, that voters themselves - including not least those who voted Leave - have become deeply critical of how the government has handled Brexit negotiations; as data from research organisations NatCen Social Research and What UK Thinks suggests.
As many as 80% of Leave voters now say that it has handled Brexit negotiations badly. That figure is almost as high as it is among Remain voters (85%), who had previously been more critical of the government's approach.
Also, the longer negotiations have continued, the more pessimistic voters have become about how good a deal the UK will secure. Two years ago, there were almost as many who thought that the UK would obtain a good deal (33%) as thought it would find itself with a bad one (37%).
However, that mood soon changed and by last summer as many as 57% reckoned the UK would emerge with a bad deal.
More importantly, according to bbc.com, it is a fair question to ask whether UK voters still want to leave the EU? The polls have for some time been indicating that slightly more people now say they would vote Remain than Leave in another ballot.
Meanwhile, PM May loses more ministers and more control. She has lost more ministers to Brexit, and more importantly perhaps, has lost even more control of the process at a time when her government is only just about holding on.
Sir Oliver Letwin's plan passed through the Commons Monday night by a clearer margin than expected, a big win for the cross-party group of senior MPs who have been pushing plans of different flavours for a while that would allow Parliament to have more say over what's next.
Officially, what the proposal that won tonight does is give MPs control of the debates in the Commons for a day on Wednesday. They will use that to have a series of votes on different options. This is exactly what some government ministers wanted and have been arguing for ages.
Now MPs have won the right to carry out this unusual process, there will be a series of votes in the Commons on Wednesday, where MPs will be able to have their say on a whole range of options - a customs union, a closer relationship with the EU than the PM has argued for, another referendum, and others which could emerge.
But it's important to note those votes won't at this stage force the government to do anything, they won't be binding, and the prime minister has indicated she could not, and would not ever support a plan that wasn't in the Conservative manifesto.
On the other side, MPs involved in the bid tonight say if there is a majority for a plan that's not the prime minister's deal then there would be "uproar" if Theresa May tried to ignore it.
It is possible, of course, that Brexiteers who have been resisting the prime minister's deal so far, take fright at Parliament having more control of the process, and are more likely to come in line. That's because generally, the make-up of MPs are more likely to back a softer deal than the one on offer.
EU prepares for possible “no-deal” scenario
The EU for its part, completes preparations for possible “no-deal” scenario on 12 April. As it is increasingly likely that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union without a deal on 12 April, the European Commission has today completed its “no-deal” preparations.
The European Commission continues supporting administrations in their own preparations and urges all EU citizens and businesses to continue informing themselves about the consequences of a possible “no-deal” scenario and to complete their no-deal preparedness. This follows the European Council (Article 50) conclusions last week calling for work to be continued on preparedness and contingency. While a “no-deal” scenario is not desirable, the EU is prepared for it.
“No-deal” scenario
In a “no-deal” scenario, the UK will become a third country without any transitionary arrangements. All EU primary and secondary law will cease to apply to the UK from that moment onwards. There will be no transition period, as provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement. This will obviously cause significant disruption for citizens and businesses.
Click here for the full article on EU preparations.
