The proportion of voters who favour a referendum on the final terms of any Brexit deal has overtaken those who do not for the first time, while Prime Minister Theresa May's approval ratings have plunged, according to opinion polls.
With just more than eight months left until Britain is due to leave the European Union, there is little clarity about how trade will flow as May, who is grappling with a rebellion in her party, struggles to strike a deal with the bloc.
May has stepped up planning for a so called "no-deal" Brexit that would see the world's fifth-largest economy crash out of the EU on March 29, 2019, a step that could spook financial markets and dislocate trade flows across Europe and beyond.
When voters were asked in a YouGov poll whether there should be a referendum on the final terms of any Brexit deal, 42 per cent said there should be a fresh vote while 40 per cent said there should not.
The rest did not know.
The poll was conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, The Times said.
Fifty-eight per cent of Labour voters, 67 per cent of Liberal Democrat voters and 21 per cent of Conservative voters supported a second referendum.
Britain and the EU are working towards sealing an agreement on their future ties by October but the process is mired in disagreement.
EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier rejected key elements of Britain's new trade proposals on Thursday.
Even if May can strike a deal with the EU, it is unclear whether she could get it approved by the British parliament.
A separate poll showed May's approval ratings had plunged: less than one in three voters were satisfied with the job she is doing as prime minister, with an even sharper fall in satisfaction with her among Conservatives.
The July poll, for the Evening Standard newspaper by Ipsos MORI, showed 30 per cent were satisfied with her leadership, down from 35 per cent in June.
The same measure among Conservative voters showed a fall to 55 per cent from 68 per cent.
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