Brexit chief: Deal with EU could be reached by October

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The new British Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab told local media on Sunday that a deal with the EU could be reached by October, stressing that the UK is also preparing for the possibility of no deal.

According to a new poll, only one in 10 voters would pick the government’s proposed Brexit plans if there was a second referendum. Almost half think it would be bad for Britain,

Strain every sinew to get best deal

Raab told BBC that he would go to Brussels for talks on Thursday and strain every sinew to get the best deal.

A responsible government puts plans in place in case talks do not end well, Raab added.

But the opposition said a no deal scenario could be "catastrophic" for businesses.

Labor MP Rebecca Long-Bailey said that "no deal should not be an option."

File photo of British Prime Minister Theresa May /VCG Photo

Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29, 2019, but the two sides have yet to agree how the trade will work between them afterwards.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has expressed hope that the government's new plan will allow the two sides to reach a deal on relations by the autumn.

Poll: Brits reject May's Brexit plan

May’s plans to leave the EU are overwhelmingly opposed by the British public and more than a third of voters would support a new right-wing political party committed to quitting the bloc, according to a new poll conducted by YouGov for The Sunday Times newspaper.

Sixteen percent of voters say May is handling Brexit well, compared to 34 percent who say that Britain's former foreign secretary Boris Johnson would do a better job.

File photo of Britain's former foreign secretary Boris Johnson /VCG Photo

The survey also found voters are increasingly polarized, with growing numbers of people alienated from the two main political parties.

Thirty-eight percent of people would vote for a new right-wing party that is committed to Brexit, while almost a quarter of the public would support an explicitly far-right anti-immigrant, anti-Islam party, the poll found.

Half of the voters would support remaining in the EU if there was a second referendum, the poll found.

YouGov spoke to 1,668 adults in Britain on Thursday and Friday, according to The Sunday Times, which did not provide other details about how the poll was conducted.

(Cover: File photo of the new British Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab /AP Photo)

(With inputs from agencies)