Poll: More people want to stay in EU than leave

vivatifosi

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Theres been 15 polls on this question since the start of 2012.

14 out of 15 had more people stating they would leave.

ONE poll has more people stating they would stay in the Euro.

To be fair Graham, I think the issue is finely balanced. If you look at the primary data I put up from YouGov, the data I took was from the highlighted Grey column on the left hand side. The data Hamish is stating is one column further to the right.

The fact that the results can swing one way or the other show how close it is and that a different random sample can give a totally different PoV (albeit that the two are still pretty close).

I should state that I have long thought that Britain should stay in the EU. The benefits imo are diminishing over time and I do think we should renegotiate as the basis on which we are in, and our aspirations as a country, clearly now differ from those of the other countries. However leaving does scare the cr*p out of me, due to the multinational nature of our economy and our reliance on being a base for overseas companies.

wotsthat

When a sensible debate happens, like this one, I imagine most people will end up being in favour of continued membership. Within parliament there is arguably cross party support (or as close as we're going to get) so the message will be messy but consistent.

Of course, a sensible debate won't happen. The polarising issue is going to be immigration which will dominate all others to the detriment of sensible debate. All of the mainstream parties squirm when asked the simplest question so there's a real lack of clarity. This needs to be nipped in the bud by separating the issue of immigration from EU membership otherwise instead of the Daily Mail being ridiculous about trivia like EU rules on British bangers it'll be wall to wall stories about immigrants.

I'd like to think that newspapers in 2013 had less influence but, for some reason, publications which most people choose not to buy are reviewed heavily on both TV and radio news outlets.

shortchanged_2

So Hamish, what are your personal reasons for wanting to stay in the EU?

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

shortchanged wrote: »

So Hamish, what are your personal reasons for wanting to stay in the EU?

1. The UK economy will grow significantly quicker within the EU than outside it.

2. Employment levels in the UK will be significantly higher if we stay within the EU than if we leave it.

3. The standard of living and personal incomes for the British people will be higher if we stay within the EU than if we leave, as we won't have such a crisis around ageing populations and economic decline, so taxes will remain lower.

4. I quite like having the right to travel, live and work freely across the EU.

5. We're moving to a global economy, and are better placed in negotiations as part of the large EU than as a small stand-alone country.

CLAPTON

It's certainly true that many many capitains of industry, CEOs of regulatory authorities, TV personalities, MPs, economic forecasters, BBC, newspapers etc etc were absolutely certain that joining the EURO was the right decision because we would have higher growth, higher employment, fewer old people problems, easier to move money, and in a global economy being part of an economic block would give us more influence.

Some are less sure now.

Conrad

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2265867/More-people-want-STAY-Europe-leave-says-shock-poll-PM-reveals-big-EU-speech-Wednesday.html#ixzz2Iee2iFH3

Oh look, and it's even from the usual suspects favourite source.

I sensed a shift in public sentiment in favour of Europe the last few weeks. I can't recall such a stark shift as this before.

Rinoa

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

More people now want to STAY in Europe than leave says shock poll

Just shows how accurate your sig. is.

Graham_Devon

To be honest, I'd be surprised if a referendum actually saw us leave the EU.

I know I would certainly have to think long and hard about it, though I'd welcome the opportunity.

Hopefully with that opportunity will come REAL unbiased information. Though of course, it will be drowned out with scare stories and extremes from both ends.

I'd just like to know what we get out of it. I know we get lots of economic benefits, what I don't know is if those benefits outweigh the price of the rest of the disadvantages.

So far, I've not heard anyone convince me that the benefits outweight the disadvantages. I don't think I'm particularly hard to convince either. Just can't be doing with the extreme nonsense at either end.

It's OK telling me we will lose 2.5% of GDP. Wow. That in itself doesn't really bother me. What I want to know is if that 2.5% in GDP is worth losing, considering the benefits it will bring.

So far, I appear to be getting more sense from Farage than anyone else. I'm hoping that's not because I'm sympathetic to his view. He just appears to be able to make mincemeat of all those politicians and business leaders, with one simple little fact. You rarely see Farage flummoxed and scratching around in an argument. That to me, suggest he's not making things up as he goes along, whereas avoidance of the questions from others suggests to me they are hiding from something.

Watch him on any debate and he says just a few words, and those few words have the rest of the pro EU panel chasing their tails, stuttering and coming up with long winded explanations of anything that avoids the few words Farage stated.....happens every time.

If I was going to vote, I'd want to know if and how we can change what we currently have. If we can't change anything, then that worries me, especially going forward, and I'd rather be out. I really hope we don't get sold down the river though, with a proise of what we can change, only to stay in, and be told we can't actually change anything. That, I believe is what will happen.

chris_m

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

That Britain will remain in the EU is beyond doubt.

Very possibly - but whether or not Scotland will be allowed to join is another question

MacMickster

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

1. The UK economy will grow significantly quicker within the EU than outside it.

2. Employment levels in the UK will be significantly higher if we stay within the EU than if we leave it.

3. The standard of living and personal incomes for the British people will be higher if we stay within the EU than if we leave, as we won't have such a crisis around ageing populations and economic decline, so taxes will remain lower.

4. I quite like having the right to travel, live and work freely across the EU.

5. We're moving to a global economy, and are better placed in negotiations as part of the large EU than as a small stand-alone country.

All perfectly valid reasons, but when balanced against the lack of democracy, waste of public funds and levels of outright corruption within the EU I am unsure which way I would vote in an in/out referendum.

On balance I would probably lean very slightly towards getting out.