Today sees the release of yet another YouGov opinion poll on voting
intentions should the UK hold a referendum on Britain’s EU membership.
The poll, conducted over the 17th & 18th of
January 2013, reveals that 40% would choose to stay in the EU, compared to 34%
that want to leave the EU. 5% said they would not vote on the issue, and 20%
said they did not know how they would vote. As the table below shows, this is a
marked change since November 2012, and has stark differences to polls taken on
earlier dates.
This result is simply an
anomaly. It is not surprising that there are changes to opinion over a short
period of time when the media propagates stories which are based around EU
scaremongering. Already we have seen scare tactics, claiming that the UK will
lose business if we did not choose to stay in the European Union. Coupled with
the effect of President Obama and his administration calling for a strong UK
relationship with the European Union, it is no wonder that there has been a
temporary change in opinion.
What has stayed the same
throughout is that only 5% of people, on average, would not vote on this issue.
95% of the electorate potentially want a vote on this issue. Even if we
discount those who do not know how they would vote, we have on average, over
75% of the electorate who have an opinion on this issue and who should be given
a say.
If anything, this latest
poll result strengthens the We Demand a Referendum Party’s call for a Royal
Commission to outline the benefits and negatives of EU membership, to give
everyone an informed unbiased opinion on this crucial topic.
We can analyse
statistics all day long. This is not an issue that can be resolved by polls
alone.
We Demand a Referendum
on this crucial issue because it is time to settle the argument once and for
all. This is not about political posturing, or one-upmanship. This is about
democracy, pure and simple.
Let us have a free and
fair debate, and once and for all let the people decide so that we can move on.
