No 10 Explores Public Appetite for Reversing Brexit

Downing Street officials have been quietly gathering evidence on how British voters might respond to a pledge to rejoin the European Union, as debate grows within government over how directly to address the legacy of Brexit.

According to reports on internal discussions, aides to Prime Minister Andy Burnham have approached pollsters and European policy experts at multiple organizations to test public appetite for reversing the UK's 2016 decision to leave the bloc. The effort is said to reflect growing momentum inside the Labour Party for including a rejoin pledge in its next manifesto.

Weighing Political Risk

Any move to formally commit to EU membership would represent a significant shift in UK policy, and officials are understood to be weighing the political risk of such a pledge against the potential benefits of closer alignment with the bloc. Public opinion on Brexit has shifted since the original referendum, though views on the specifics of any return to EU membership remain varied.

No decision on including a rejoin commitment in the next Labour manifesto has been announced, and the research effort described in reporting remains at an exploratory stage.