The next big Brexit battle: protectionists vs free marketeers

Although politicians and pundits have learnt the hard way not to take polls as gospel, the latest Opinium/Independent poll on free trade ought to give the government some cause for alarm. New polling has found that when asked whether ditching current food standards would be a price worth paying for a deal, 82 per cent of those surveyed said keeping current regulations in place should take priority – even if that meant no deal. Meanwhile, just 8 per cent said a free trade agreement with the US should take priority.

Of course this is just one poll and the stark findings could in part be down to the phrasing of the question. But regardless, it touches on what the next big Brexit debate will be: the battle between the protectionists and the free marketeers. As I said in the i paper on Wednesday, there’s a common misconception that if the Brexiteers succeed in getting Theresa May to agree to a trade agreement with the EU that sees the UK out of the customs union and able to strike its own trade deals then the battle for Brexit will have been won.