Quoting from the Ipsos MORI poll: Click Here to vist the Ipsos MORI website
EU Referendum: Controls on movement of EU citizens key issue for majority of Britons
- Six in 10 (58%) believe there should be greater restrictions on free movement of EU citizens. 14% believe there should be no right to free movement between EU countries at all. 11% say that free movement of EU citizens should be kept in its current form and 5% say that there should be no restrictions at all.
- Of those who want more restriction on free movement of EU citizens, seven in ten (72%) mention pressure on public services and six in ten (59%) cite people coming to claim benefits as their reason. Pressure on housing and overcrowding were also mentioned as key concerns (55% and 54% respectively). Few, however cite cultural reasons for restricting free movement including 21% who say EU migrants don’t integrate into British society, 20% because EU immigration raises crime rates while 14% think EU immigration dilutes British culture.
- When considering the list of aims David Cameron is taking into the renegotiation, restricting benefit access to EU migrants proves to be the most popular, with 62% of the public saying this is important. This is followed by restricting immigration from countries that become new member states, which is seen as important by 48% of the public. Cameron’s aims outside of immigration are seen to be less important, with 38% supporting greater powers for national parliaments to block EU legislation, one in three (32%) seeing protecting UK financial markets from EU legislation as important and one in four (25%) who say allowing Britain to opt-out from forging an “ever closer union” with Europe is an important aim.
- The survey also asked Britons how they would vote in a referendum on EU membership. In this instance 52% said they would vote for Britain to remain an EU member, 31% said they would vote to leave and 17% were unsure, although it is important to note that this survey was part of a larger longitudinal study conducted in June and July and does not necessarily reflect current vote preference on an EU referendum. However, one in five (20%) of those who said they would vote to leave in a referendum on the EU say they would change their mind and vote to remain a member if David Cameron achieved all of his aims. Three in five (60%) however would still vote to leave the EU while another one on five (19%) would become unsure how they would vote if the Prime Minister was successful. Conservatives who would vote to leave in a referendum are the most likely to change their minds and vote to remain if Cameron achieves all his aims. One in three (29%) Conservatives would change their vote to remain a member.
- But the public have little confidence in the Prime Minster getting a good deal for Britain from other European leaders. Two in three (66%) Britons say they are not very or not confident at all that he will get a good deal while three in 10 (28%) are either very or fairly confident that he will. David Cameron has stronger support from his own party, as 46% of Conservative voters say they are very or fairly confident he’ll get a good deal although, even here, half (51%) are not confident. Fifteen per cent of Labour voters have confidence in him getting a good deal (80% are not confident) and one in four (24%) Liberal Democrat voters have confidence in him (68% are not confident). UKIP voters have the least assurance in the Prime Minster with one in 10 (10%) having confidence in him achieving a good deal for Britain versus 88% who are not.