Exactly half of all UK citizens would like to hold a new Brexit referendum in case the current talks between Britain and the EU break down and the former becomes faced with the prospect of leaving the Union without a deal, according to the latest YouGov poll.

Another 25% of the Brits believe that in that case, the fate of Brexit should be settled by MPs voting in parliament.

The poll results also show that a total of 45% of the Brits support holding a new referendum on Brexit, this time upon completion of the negotiations, whatever the outcome of the UK – EU talks on a withdrawal deal; 34% oppose a new public vote on the issue.

The YouGov poll was conducted from July 31 until August 7 among 10,000 people, and was commissioned by the pro-EU and pro-referendum “People’s Vote” campaign. Its results were released on Friday.

“Across the spectrum, the message from voters in this survey is clear: if the government and parliament can’t sort out Brexit, the people should,” said Peter Kellner, former president of YouGov, as cited by Reuters.

In July 2018, another YouGov poll commissioned by The Times found that for the first time the number of UK citizens supporting a second referendum on the terms of Brexit surpassed the number of those who do not.

In their June 2016 referendum, a narrow majority of the British citizens voted in favor of Brexit (51.9% to 48.1%).

Britain is set to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019, which is expected to be followed by 1.5-year-long transition period, until December 31, 2020. However, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the transition period would not apply.

The UK and the EU are aiming at striking a Brexit deal by October 2018 which would allow the British and European Parliaments sufficient time to vote on it.

When given three options: remaining in the EU, leaving without a deal, or accepting Prime Minister Theresa May’s controversial Brexit blueprint outlined in a White Paper of the British government, 40% of the respondents said they were in favor of remaining in the Union, 27% of a no-deal Brexit, and 11% favored quitting the EU with May’s deal.

The YouGov also poll found that 74% of those questioned believed the Brexit negotiations were going badly, and 68% thought that made it likely Britain would get a bad deal.

(Banner image: Pixabay)