As Parliamentarians prepare to vote on several major Brexit amendments today, a major new report from anti-fascist campaign HOPE not hate, based on polling of nearly 33,000 people, reveals the true extent of Brexit divisions damaging the country, how there has been a huge collapse in political trust, and how Theresa May’s approach to negotiations have left us even more polarised.

With polling gathered – via YouGov and Populus – across nearly 33,000 people over the past 12 months, alongside data from focus groups, DEEPENING DIVIDES shows that the majority (58%) of Brits regard themselves as either a hardline Remain or Leave voter, and that with Parliament now deadlocked, 60% of us support a new public vote on Brexit.

With such stark divisions, support is rising – 39% – in favour of Citizens’ Assemblies, backed by both Leave and Remain voters of different shades. With gridlock among our politicians, 42% of people think that it would be sensible to delay leaving the EU by a few months so we can agree a better deal with the EU and/or hold a new referendum.

Nick Lowles, CEO of HOPE not hate, said:

“A new approach is needed to avoid a lasting, damaging, split in the country. Open divisions have emerged thanks in part to the Government’s handling of the situation, and there is now a huge distrust in politicians, and politics, which could be very dangerous. Meanwhile, a small but organised far right is busy behind the scenes trying to weaponise Brexit divisions.”

“Rather than cobbling together a deal that can scrape through Parliament but will not solve the country’s problems, we need a pause, a new process and an approach that can start to heal the divisions through consensus building and dialogue.”

“By holding citizens assemblies, we can bring people into the conversation, and do what should have been done immediately after the referendum: try to reach a consensus about what kind of country we want.”

The report draws on our major Fear, Hope & Loss report from the end of last year (which exposed the divisions opening between towns & cities in the UK, and where hostile attitudes were emerging), plus the huge National Conversation on Immigration, which we ran with British Future and which spoke to 20,000 people from 60 communities around the UK.