Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage yesterday said he was increasingly concerned that a vote for Britain to leave the EU could be overturned by a powerful group of the bloc’s supporters.
In an interview with the Observer newspaper, Farage, former head of the euroskeptic UK Independence Party, said a well-organized and funded group of campaigners that wants to remain in the EU was drowning out those who want to leave.
“The Remain side are making all the running,” Farage said. “They have a majority in parliament, and unless we get ourselves organized we could lose the historic victory that was Brexit.”
Farage last week said he was warming to the idea of holding a second vote on Britain’s membership of the EU to settle the argument — an idea written off by other Brexit campaigners who urged the government to press on with exit talks with the bloc.
In 2016, Britons voted 52 to 48 percent in favor of ending its membership of the EU.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has ruled out a second referendum, saying her government was seeking an amicable divorce with the EU that would safeguard the economy and enable Britain to sec with other countries.
However, some Brexit campaigners fear her approach has led to the watering down of several of their demands, including the ability to reduce immigration.
Several pro-EU campaigners say the need for a second referendum has become more pressing because public opinion is showing some signs of turning against Brexit as the difficulty of negotiations to leave the bloc becomes increasingly clear.
A ComRes poll on Thursday for the Daily Mirror newspaper of 1,049 adults showed that although more people think there should not be a second referendum (51 to 43 percent), if there were to be a re-run, voters say they would opt to stay in the EU by 55 to 45 percent.
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