A majority of those who've made up their mind now back a second EU referendum , a new poll claims today.

The survey claims to show a powerful surge in support for a fresh public vote on Brexit as fear mounts over the prospect of No Deal.

For the first time, more people told YouGov they want a second vote (42%) than don't want one (40%). 18% didn't know.

Theresa May this week claimed voters should be "reassured" by plans to stockpile food and medicines if there is no agreement by March.

But separate YouGov research shows just 6% are - while 43% are "concerned".

Theresa May claimed voters should be "reassured" by plans to stockpile food (
Image:
Simon Dawson)

The polling giant quizzed 1,653 British adults on July 25-26, after the government announced it is ramping up plans for a no deal Brexit.

Some 42% said there should be a second referendum on the terms of Theresa May's final deal with Brussels. 40% said there should not.

This was a reversal of the 40% for and 42% against measured just a week earlier.

But the country is still deeply divided, the poll suggested.

Asked how they'd vote in a re-run of the 2016 EU referendum, 45% said they would choose to remain in the EU while 42% said they would vote to leave.

Two-thirds of previous Remain voters (66%) said there should be a new referendum, but two-thirds of Leave voters (66%) said there should not.

It comes as anti-Brexit campaigners ramp up their bid for a second referendum, with 250,000 signing a petition in 36 hours and the bid being backed by Tory and Labour MPs and Gary Lineker.

Eloise Todd, chief executive of pro-EU group Best for Britain, claimed "the sands of public opinion have shifted against Brexit."

She added: "The public are becoming increasingly restless. They don't want a shoddy deal full of second-rate concessions, or a nightmare no deal."

It comes as Theresa May holds Brexit talks with her Austrian and Czech counterparts today as the clock ticks down to a deadline in October.

Fresh from the Royal Welsh Show, the Prime Minister is now on the road to Austria (
Image:
Christopher Furlong)
Her plan was branded a load of old bull by the EU - albeit a lot more politely (
Image:
Christopher Furlong)

The Prime Minister is still trying to breathe life into her customs plan despite it being flatly rejected by EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier last night.

Experts today also warned the plan could scupper Britain's bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The government has not ruled out stockpiling food if there's no deal, with Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab indicating private firms could take the drastic measure.

Theresa May's Chequers Brexit plan explained

The UK's current Brexit plan is based on a deal Theresa May drew up at Chequers, her country retreat, in July 2018.

At the time it was seen as a major shift to soft Brexit - prompting hard-Leaver Cabinet ministers David Davis and Boris Johnson to resign.

The 'Facilitated Customs Arrangement' is a bid to solve the biggest problem of Brexit - how to stop a hard border between Northern Ireland and either the EU, or the rest of the UK.

It would keep the UK closely aligned with the EU in a new "free trade area" for goods. Under this plan, the UK would share a "common rulebook" with Brussels for goods, including agricultural and food products. Britain would also collect some, but not all, customs tariffs on the EU's behalf.

Parliament would technically keep the right to block future rules. But Tory Brexiteers said this olive branch would useless in practice. They forced Theresa May to amend the plan to say the EU should collects tariffs on the UK's behalf.

Mrs May insisted this didn't scupper her plan. But EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier disagreed, and has continued to suggest there will be a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Remainers and Labour have also opposed the Chequers plan, saying it leaves Britain half-in-half-out of the EU in the "worst of all worlds".

With a November deadline to agree a deal with the EU looming, and the plan facing a vote in Parliament after that, the UK is now ramping up plans to leave in March 2019 with no deal.

But the idea was branded "ridiculous" today by supermarket chiefs who said it was "simply not possible".

One supermarket executive told the Financial Times: “It’s scary because it shows how far the government is from the reality of how things work. It’s genuinely worrying.”

The British Retail Consortium added: "Stockpiling of food is not a practical response to a no-deal on Brexit, and industry has not been approached by government to begin planning for this."

The idea of stockpiling food was branded "ridiculous" by supermarket chiefs (
Image:
Getty)

France yesterday promised the UK could cancel Brexit and stay in the EU on the same terms.

But International Trade Secretary Liam Fox today said even extending Brexit talks beyond March 2019 would be a "complete betrayal" of Brexit voters.

The Prime Minister will attend a music festival in Salzburg as a guest of the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz before heading for her summer holiday.

As well as enjoying the musical performances on offer, which include Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Mrs May will hold rounds of talks with Chancellor Kurz and Czech PM Andrej Babis.