British voters leaning towards exiting EU: Polls
Two new surveys conducted in the UK reveal that public opinion has shifted towards leaving the European Union in the forthcoming referendum scheduled for late June.
The surveys, published on Tuesday, were carried out by the Guardian and the public opinion researcher, ICM, from 27 to 29 May, suggesting the referendum campaign for Britain to leave the EU has gained momentum, with voters split 52-48 percent in favor of Brexit.
“Our poll rather unhinges a few accepted orthodoxies,” said Martin Boon, the ICM’s director. “It is only one poll but, in a rather unexpected reverse of polling assumptions so far, both our phone poll and our online poll are consistent on both vote intentions and on the EU referendum.”
Fluctuations in the opinion polls seem to be increasing as the UK gets closer to the June 23 referendum, Boon noted.
In the phone poll of more than 1,000 adults, 45% said they favored leaving the EU, and 42 percent remaining, with 13% saying they did not know. Once the “don’t knows” were excluded, that left 52% in favor of Brexit, against 48% for remain.
In the online poll, 47 percent said they would favor Brexit and 44 percent opposed it, with 9 percent saying they were undecided. Excluding the undecided, the result was the same as the phone method, 52-48 in favor of leaving.
British voters will decide whether to leave or stay in the EU in a June 23 referendum.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and most of his cabinet are trying to convince Britons to vote against leaving the EU, but about half of his MPs support an exit.
The prime minister has consistently warned against the Brexit, saying that it poses an economic risk to the country and can undermine Britain’s security.
The impact of a possible British exit on jobs, wages and trade is a key battleground for both the "In" and "Out" campaigns before Britons vote on June 23 on whether to stay in the 28-member bloc.
The “In” campaign, those in favor of remaining in the bloc, argue that leaving it would risk the UK's prosperity, diminish its influence over world affairs, and result in trade barriers between the UK and the EU.
Those that support an EU withdrawal, on the other hand, argue it would allow Britain to be better able to control immigration, conduct its own trade negotiations, and be free from what they believe to be unnecessary EU regulations and bureaucracy.
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