UK voters want soft Brexit

The Citizens' Assembly on Brexit, a representative body of UK citizens brought together to discuss Brexit and led by the UCL Constitution Unit, has sent politicians a clear message in favour of a "soft Brexit." The Assembly met last weekend, which was the second time it has met since the project launched in July 2017. Faced with the range of possible outcomes, they chose to retain free movement of labour, but with the UK government exercising all available controls to prevent abuse. If a deal can't be reached in negotiations on trade, staying in the Single Market and Customs Union was preferred to no deal at all. The Citizens' Assembly on Brexit is an opportunity for a diverse group of 50 UK voters with different viewpoints to learn about the issues of trade and immigration, to deliberate with each other and come to recommendations on the form Brexit should take. The members, randomly selected to capture the diversity of the UK population, met in Manchester to consider options for the UK's post-Brexit relationship with Europe. After hearing from a range of experts, and from politicians from both sides of the Brexit divide, they took four key votes: On trade with the EU, members voted for a bespoke trade deal ahead of staying in the Single Market.