French want Brexit to be put off
French people would on average prefer the Brexit negotiations to be extended so the UK can eventually leave with a deal, a survey found.
However the Opinionway poll for Les Echos and Radio Classique was close-run – 49% of those polled wanted an extension while 46% preferred ‘a quick Brexit with no deal’ (5% expressed no preference). These were the only two options presented to them.
The survey found that women were more likely than men to want the negotiations to continue so as to obtain a deal (56% of women; 40% of men), younger people were more likely to want it than older people (61% of 18-24-year-olds; 42% of those aged 65+).
Political views also had an impact, with those who voted further to the right in the last presidential elections being more likely to favour a swift exit with no deal (63% of Le Pen voters compared to 36% of those voting for Socialist Benoît Hamon or 39% of voters for Jean-Luc Mélenchon).
Asked about what economic impact Brexit might have on them personally, 73% thought there would be no impact, 15% thought there would be a negative one and 7% a positive one.
However according to national statistics body Insee a no-deal Brexit would cause a 1.7% hit to French GDP in the long-term with the reestablishment of border tariffs with the UK and 0.6% in the first year.
