About 60% of Britons Don't Want to Give EU Citizenship Up - Poll

Six out of 10 Britons, especially the younger generation, do not want to lose their EU citizenship following Brexit, with many prepared to pay large sums to retain rights to live, work, study and travel in the European bloc, a survey led by the London School of Economics showed.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The results of the poll published on Saturday by The Guardian newspaper indicated that the support for retaining EU citizenship was especially strong among 18- to 24-year-olds, reaching 85 percent.

Another group, which expressed strong desire, were the residents of London, with 80 percent wishing to keep the EU citizenship.

The conditions of the Brexit have become a major topic for disputes in the United Kingdom. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has proposed a hard Brexit, which means that the United Kingdom would leave the EU single market and customs union that stipulate the free movement of people, while her opponents from the Labour Party promote a soft Brexit with less radical decisions.

Brexit negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union officially kicked off on June 19, and are due to be completed by March 30, 2019.