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Britain is a deeply Eurosceptic country but voters are still likely to decide to remain in the European Union when forced to choose in June’s referendum, the most representative polling on the issue so far has found.
In research highlighting the dilemma for the Leave campaign, the National Centre for Social Research found that two-thirds of the electorate were unhappy with Britain’s current membership terms.
However, when given a straight choice between staying or going, 60 per cent thought Britain should stay in the union compared with 30 per cent who believed the country should “withdraw”, with 10 per cent undecided.
It concluded that for Euroscepticism to translate into support for withdrawal, voters also needed to be convinced of the economic case for leaving and, at present, most are not. [...]
It found two-thirds (68 per cent) of the electorate in favour of reducing the ability of EU migrants to access welfare benefits, while just over half wanted to end the free movement of people within the EU. A majority also favoured reducing the extent to which the EU regulates business.
But, at the same time, only 24 per cent believed that Britain’s economy would be better off if it left the EU, while as many as 40 per cent felt it would be worse off. The findings are understood to be similar to polling carried out by the Remain campaign that has helped structure David Cameron’s argument that it is “safer” to stay in the European Union.
Full article on The Independent
NatCen research British Social Attitudes: How deeply does Britain's Euroscepticism run?