More than 50% of Britons think their country was wrong to leave the European Union seven years after the Brexit referendum, according to a new poll, PA Media/dpa reported on Friday.

According to a poll of 1,525 adults in early June, 34% of respondents still think Brexit was the right decision.

The results, published by the Tony Blair Institute and carried out by Deltapoll, also show that 18% of Leavers (who voted to leave the EU) now believe the decision was wrong.

Almost 80% believe that the UK should have a closer relationship with the EU in the future, with 43% wanting the UK to join the EU and 13% preferring to just return to the single market.

The survey found that just over a fifth support closer relations with the EU, although not as a member or part of the single market.

The data is part of a new report on how the UK can improve its relationship with the EU after Brexit. Authors Anton Spisak and Christos Tsoulakis also warn that “the opinions of those who voted in the 2016 referendum do not seem to have fundamentally changed.”

Young people tilt the scales

“Instead, the key factor behind this change is the sentiment of respondents aged 18-24, who did not vote in 2016, but mostly believe the decision to leave the EU was wrong. Most of the changes appear to be due to younger people entering the electorate, rather than a change in opinion among a large proportion of those who voted to leave the EU, the report said.

Among the proposals put forward by the institute is encouraging the UK government to commit to voluntary compliance with EU rules on goods, including food safety standards. Sir Tony Blair’s think tank suggests this could precede negotiations with the EU on closer alignment of sanitary and phytosanitary rules.

The report also suggests merging the UK and EU emissions trading systems, agreeing a reciprocal trading system for youth and improving business mobility.

The document also calls for a so-called “strategic pillar” within the current trade deal, which would serve as the basis for a common foreign and defense policy framework.

Lister, who heads the institute’s policy department, said: “Our polls show that a large majority of the British public agree that Brexit in its current form is not working and would like to see the UK move closer to the EU. This creates significant political space for the debate to move forward, from reframing old battles over whether Brexit was right or wrong, to debating what an improved future relationship with the EU should look like. The EU will always remain a key strategic ally, and it is absurd that the bloc has deeper trade agreements with Israel and Georgia, better recognition of food safety standards with Canada and New Zealand, and deeper political cooperation mechanisms with nations such as Australia and Japan. Any future British government that wants to improve relations with the EU will need a carefully analyzed strategic plan that sets out a clear proposition for the other side. Pleading with the European Union cannot be a successful negotiation strategy.” (Agerpres)