The country is split over whether Theresa May is right to make immigration control a bigger priority than access to the European single market.
An exclusive Ipsos MORI poll reveals 44 per cent of Britons believe staying in the EU’s trading bloc is more important, while 42 per cent say controlling borders should be the number one issue.
The gap has narrowed slightly since October when it was 45 to 39, indicating that public opinion has inched closer to the Prime Minister’s position. She announced on Tuesday that Britain will leave the single market because the EU’s insistence on free movement is incompatible with her pledge to restore the power to set immigration numbers.
The research suggests the country is deeply divided on the issue. Londoners are the biggest champions of the single market, with 50 per cent saying it is a bigger priority against 38 per cent who want immigration control more. But in the Midlands and the North, immigration was seen as a bigger priority.
Gloom about Britain’s economic prospects has eased in the past month, the poll found. Some 47 per cent think things will get worse in the year ahead, down from 51, while 27 per cent think things will get better, up from 24.
The Conservatives have a 12-point lead over Labour, at 43 per cent to 31. Ukip have slid to six per cent, five points behind the Liberal Democrats.
Mrs May is the only party leader with a positive rating — 45 per cent are satisfied with her performance. Jeremy Corbyn’s ratings are a dire 26 per cent satisfied and 61 per cent dissatisfied.
Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI, said: “Theresa May has called for the country to come together after Brexit, but the divisions on single market access v immigration control show no signs of going away."
