· European Union seen as out of touch, unfair, and poor value for money
· Eighty three per cent say British law should be paramount
· Majority say UK politicians “don’t do enough to stand up for Britain”
The overwhelming majority of Britons want a referendum on whether the UK stays in the European Union.
A new poll by ComRes, commissioned by the Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB), shows support for the EU at rock-bottom.
Most voters are deeply unhappy about the way the European Union is run, and believe it is out of touch, unfair, and offers poor value for money.
The poll is a devastating blow to those in the Government who want to deepen the UK’s involvement in the EU by taking Britain into the euro zone.
But it is also bad news for the Conservatives as it shows the electorate have moved beyond Tory policy on Europe and are far more Eurosceptic than the present Tory leadership.
With half of voters saying Europe is “largely corrupt”, 71% of those polled say they want a national referendum to decide whether Britain remains in the EU.
Seventy five per cent think UK politicians “don’t do enough to stand up for British interests in Europe”. The same proportion views the EU as “out of touch”.
Sixty five per cent feel that the UK “gets an unfair deal in the European Union; we play by the rules but nobody else does”.
Only 29% believe that Britain gets good value for money from its membership of the EU.
Sixty three per cent say that the EU stops Britain from having its own immigration policy, and an overwhelming 83% are opposed to European law overriding UK law.
Commenting on the results, George West, Chairman of the Campaign for an Independent Britain, said: “The results come as no surprise, proving that the 2.4 billion euros of taxpayers’ money that the EU spent in 2008 alone on promoting itself and its central aim of ‘ever closer union’ was money thrown away. No amount of EU flag waving, singing the EU national anthem ‘Ode to Joy’ or EU brainwashing will ever win over the hearts and minds of British people who were told in 1972 that they were joining nothing more than a trading Common Market.”
The poll results were welcomed by leading Eurosceptic Members of the European Parliament. Nigel Farage, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and MEP for the South East of England, commented: “This poll shows how hopelessly out-of-touch our politicians are with the public. The need for a referendum, on fundamental issues of sovereignty, has never been greater.”
Roger Helmer, Conservative MEP for the East Midlands and Chairman of The Freedom Association, added: “I am delighted at this further confirmation that the British people demand a say on the EU. The EU's frantic attempts to deny citizens a say on the Lisbon Treaty are despicable. Their contempt for the voters is breathtaking.”
-ENDS
Press contact: Andy Smith, Press Officer, Campaign for an Independent Britain, tel: 07737 271676, email: press@eurosceptic.org.uk
Editor’s notes
(1) ComRes interviewed 1,007 GB adults by telephone between January 2 and January 4, 2009. Data were weighted to be representative demographically of all GB adults. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Full poll results and breakdowns are available on request. Contact: Greig Baker, ComRes, 28 Broadway, London SW1H 9JX. Tel 020 7340 9634 Email greig@comres.co.uk Web www.comres.co.uk
(2) The Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIB) is a cross-party pressure-group with a nationwide membership and a network of active local groups. CIB publishes a quarterly tabloid newspaper, Free Britain, with news and views on the EU, plus regular newsletters for its activists and a series of eye-catching public information leaflets. Its website, www.eurosceptic.org.uk, is an authoritative source of information on all aspects of Britain’s membership of the European Union. Members of CIB include prominent MPs, Peers and MEPs from across the political spectrum, as well as journalists, teachers, trade unionists, civil rights campaigners, lawyers, business leaders and local councillors. Its joint Presidents are Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour) and Sir Richard Body (former Conservative MP).
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11 comments:
The above two comments serve no useful purpose - and only serve to give CIB a bad name.
I am not surprised at the results of the poll. We must all keep up the pressure on our own MPs - and anyone else who can bring influence to bear on Govt.
Correct me if I'm wrong; but surely according to our Constitution (which the pollies pretend doesn't exist); We are sovereign; so we should not have to answer to any referendum. Don't misunderstand me; I am a proud British patriot and Royal Navy veteran. I believe that we should be standing up for our Constitution first!
What makes you think we are ruled by people who could care less about the British constitution?
RE: Constitution. No, historically sovereignty was viewed as vested in Parliament, not in the people. But since 1973 to all practical effect sovereignty has been handed to Brussels. That's why we have to leave!
the trouble is,an overwhelming majority of MPs want to join a federal europe,and when did MPs ever care what the electorate wanted?
British Governments believe that they remain "sovereign" because they can always repeal the European Communities Act.
In spite of allegedly being "sovereign" they have been overruled by the European Court of Justice more than once.
Should the Treaty of Lisbon become Active, I doubt very much that this Country will even be allowed to free itself from the EU Clutches.
as far as i can judge it, the majority of export, especially food, from Britain goes to EU countries, which wouldn't be smooth sailing any more if Britain simply decided to quit and start a free-lance trade project against Brussels bureocracy... maybe the EU membership IS INDEED a basic pillar of Britain's economics and commerce? just try to imagine the charges imposed on both imported and exported goods from and to the EU - and the same EU who really cunningly keeps on undermining the Pound Sterling as an art of quiet pressure towards the use of that horrible Euro, they wouldn't be softies, they would undermine trading relations exactly the same subtle and delicate, thorough way... what is desirable is liberty and relative independence WITHIN a loose membership, not the burning of the bridges between the EU and the UK....
should be fighting against them imposing unfair and improper stuff on the furthest country to the west... let them squeeze the breath out of those who are surrended by other EU countries from each and every side, if those let them do so.... but not on a detached Isles!
as far as i can judge it, the majority of export, especially food, from Britain goes to EU countries, which wouldn't be smooth sailing any more if Britain simply decided to quit and start a free-lance trade project against Brussels bureocracy... maybe the EU membership IS INDEED a basic pillar of Britain's economics and commerce? just try to imagine the charges imposed on both imported and exported goods from and to the EU - and the same EU who really cunningly keeps on undermining the Pound Sterling as an art of quiet pressure towards the use of that horrible Euro, they wouldn't be softies, they would undermine trading relations exactly the same subtle and delicate, thorough way... what is desirable is liberty and relative independence WITHIN a loose membership, not the burning of the bridges between the EU and the UK....
should be fighting against them imposing unfair and improper stuff on the furthest country to the west... let them squeeze the breath out of those who are surrended by other EU countries from each and every side, if those let them do so.... but not on a detached Isles!
No, that's not quite right. Only about half of our exports are to the EU - the rest mostly to the US and far east. But our trade with the EU is hugely in deficit - they sell far more to us than the other way round - so if we did leave the EU would be very foolish to impose tarrif sanctions on us as it would hurt their own people more than us.
Birtain has been trading with europe a lot longer than the current European Union has been running. Britain also trades with the rest of the world. Some of that trading has already been restricted. Once we are fully integrated within europe all free trading for this country will be removed. We do not need europe to help us trade we can stand alone in that area and will prosper better if allowed to do it. Britain has gained nothing by integration to date into europe other than have to acept a far greater percentage of immgrants that any other european country. Allow us to be totallt free again and watch us climb the ladder again. we are nearly on the bottom rung due to europe and we re about to fall off and once that happens Europe will not allow uus back onto the ladder.
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