Welcome to our website. If you want to see what people think of the issues that are being debated in the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union, you are in the right place. Equally, if you want to make sense of the latest polls on how people might vote in the referendum – or maybe would like to learn a bit more about why people are inclined to vote one way or the other – again, this is the site for you.
There are two main parts to the site. The first comprises a lot of data. We are bringing together what we think is all of the significant polling and survey data on the subject collected in Britain during the last five years. In cases where these questions were also asked on polls or surveys conducted before 2010, the details of the earlier readings are given too. Polls conducted separately in one of the four component parts of the UK are also included.
The outcome of the referendum will, of course, eventually be determined by voters in the UK. But in the meantime the UK government is hoping to ‘renegotiate’ Britain’s terms of membership, and that is an issue that concerns the rest of the EU too. What other countries will be willing to offer will depend in part on what their voters are willing to accept. So we are also collating and providing the results from some of the major EU-wide surveys conducted since 2004, together with polling results for its larger member states.
However, the centerpiece of this section of the site is our EU Referendum Poll of Polls – a running average of the latest six polls on how people propose to vote in the referendum. This is our quickest guide to the latest evidence on which way the vote is likely to go.
All of the data can be displayed in graphical form as well as viewed as a table. There are also facilities for downloading the charts and the underlying data. So that you can decide for yourself how reliable and robust a poll finding is, we provide details of how each poll was conducted, full details of the exact wording of each question, and, wherever possible, a link back to the original source of the data.
The second main part of the site contains commentary and analysis – in which this blog is the first entry! Here you will find blogs –by myself and by occasional guest contributors – on the latest polling and on attitudes towards some of the key issues in the campaign. There is also an opportunity for you to post (politely please!) your reactions and responses to what is said. Meanwhile, for those who would like more information and a slightly longer read, we will also be posting occasional analysis papers that discuss at rather greater length some of the key patterns and trends in attitudes towards the European Union.
Finally, just to be clear, we are not trying to persuade you to vote one way or another. Much like a similar website we ran during the Scottish independence referendum, What Scotland Thinks, we simply want to make it relatively straightforward for you to see what your fellow citizens think about the referendum and, perhaps, to gain some insight into why. Explore and enjoy!
By John Curtice
John Curtice is Senior Research Fellow at NatCen and at 'UK in a Changing Europe', Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University, and Chief Commentator on the What UK Thinks: EU website.
Some of the reasons given above for voting leave are ludicrous, based on Boris Johnson’s fairy tales about the size of bananas (he was sacked from the Telegraph for this sort of brazen lying). If any of the leavers are concerned about the ecomomy then George Soros, who made £2 billion by betting against the Pound, might have some useful insights . He urges us to stay. Many contributors look back to a mythical Golden Age before we joined the EU. If we leave we will face an economic recession and will have to renegociate all the trading agreements with individual countries. It is not possible to return to the 1950s.Report
Is it not true then that the EU imposes standards on us that are wasteful in the extreme, these opinions are not ludicrous or lies, maybe poor examples but not totally untrue , ask a fisherman what % of his catch is not permitted to be landed and sold , they have to throw it away because it does not meet certain size standards imposed by the EU.
George Soros is a very astute investor, he could well be telling you one thing and betting the other way. ( Think about it !) You do know that ‘short’ sellers make a good deal of their money in a downward market don’t you ?. Not all investors are ‘long’ or care one jot for the long term prospects of normal working people, they use the markets and manipulate the system to suit themselves and to make money from YOU, what the heck do you think the ‘ libor and , Forex scams were all about , do you really believe that these banks and investors like George Soros are working for the benefit of normal working people and do you also believe that aliens have big eyes , because someone told you so .
The EU seems to work for the wealthy at the expense of the low paid, all this money and wealth is coming from somewhere and going somewhere and it isn’t getting to the low paid that’s for sure. These central banks do not create wealth ,YOU DO all they do is manipulate it and cream off the top,
The EU has had 40 years to get it right , to get living standards right and put people on an even keel well it hasn’t worked , has it? It is time to get out and leave them to it and stand on our own two feet.
Yes I remember the 1950’s, what do you think, that we shouldn’t learn from the mistakes of the past? When we joined the EEC we were told a pack of lies and it scared many of us into voting to join and then those in power worked their trickery and got us into something very different , the EU and now the same thing is happening with ‘remain’ , they have no idea what the EU is planning or what behind closed door deals are being cooked up ,( Turkey has been ‘sold’ something for sure) for goodness sake wake up and question more , see it for what it is. Hiding behind all the inferred security and social issues is the plain fact that the largest countries of the European Union have their own currency , the Euro to look after, The Euro is in trouble ( if you doubt it …read more ) , the EU will need to look after the Euro and it will not give one jot for the value of the pound or any other currency from none Euro member states and neither will it care about you when things get worse. Do you think that the EU cares for the Greek people? well I don’t , no it cares about getting them into debt so they will have to keep working for the ECB for the next 40 years, the poor bleeders will never be able to pay off the debt, they can barely afford the interest payments, Oh I know says the EU we will lend you some more money so that you can pay us back the interest on the last lot we loaned you , then you can work for yet another ten years until you can’t pay the interest on that either , talk about ‘payday’ loans !
I hear such nonsense about immigration , look what the EU has provided us with doesn’t work and both sides seem to agree that we need something ‘different’ and the points system would give us back control , under a points system we could still have the workers we need BOTH from the EU and the rest of the world, if you don’t think we need to reduce the supply at least admit that we sure as hell could improve the quality. This is not about race or colour, it is about standards and the sheer numbers of the people who arrive here and do ( like it or not !) take jobs from already poorly paid UK citizens . We do not need anyone from ANYWHERE to stack shelves in supermarkets or wait at tables we have people here that will do that, the problem with this for the ‘Remain’ camp , is that UK citizens can’t afford to do it on a minimum wage on a zero hours ‘contract’ ( biggest con ever!) for a pittance, this is something that the remain camp never seems to mention… strange that .
We need to be in control of our own country not put our faith in others who have their own agenda, you wouldn’t put all your income into a joint account with you skint mate from up the road let him decide how it is ‘spent ‘ and then ask him to look after you and your family would you ? Well why is that ?
Well you all know that he won’t do the best for you he will try to find away of hiding the truth from you and he will look after his self first and leave you in the mire.
If you honestly believe that he is going to put you and your family first then I have some very good shares in a nice business I have selling high quality concrete balloons you might like to invest in !
Please vote ‘leave’ , Report
I watched a report on TV this morning about a strawberry ‘farm’ , the presenter did not ask the owner one difficult question that I noticed. The owner stated that she would not be able to get British people to pick her crop, and that the people working there were mainly immigrants. So why is that ? Go on you gutless pawn , ask her, I want some truth not some fudge up of it, what I want to know is what ‘exactly’ she was paying them for their’ work’, minimum wage ? or maybe minimum wage on paper and then ‘rent’ them a caravan or hut and grab back a good % of their ‘wages’ for ‘food and accommodation’. There are always ways to get around this system the government is so proud of and I suspect these people are being exploited for greed and that is why the owner “can’t get British people to pick her strawberries”. Why the blazes wasn’t the reporter asking the ‘right’ questions instead of simply letting the owner off of the hook and trying to skirt around the facts.
The much lauded minimum wage would be OK if you could actually live on it , and you can’t , not in any language, you have to resort to government ‘help’ , well it may come as news to many ‘remain’ voters but most British working people do not want to rely on government help, they want a decent wage that they can live on and one not forced down by cheap imported labour. The free movement of working people within the laws of the EU mainly affect the lower wage earners, it needs to end, and now!. If you do not vote to leave the EU the next wave will soon be on their way , IT consultants and skilled workers ready and willing to flip burgers, wait on tables, change tyres, stack shelves and paint walls , all for less than YOU can afford to work for. This time there will be no stopping until there is nothing left for you and your families futures.
Of course you could always disregard all the warnings by those of us who would choose to leave and put your faith in, and listen to the remain camp, because they have done so much for you in the past 40 years haven’t they? Then at some future date you could take advantage of what the EU will offer you and go and get a ‘good’ job in Skopje !….. What, you don’t speak Macedonian? …………well you better sign on then ! .
Wake up UK it’s time to leave Report
If we remain what will the UK look like in 50 years time?
This is my vision:-
The U.K. will become the economic power house of the United States of Europe, there will be further mass immigration on a scale never seen before, green belt land will be turned into brown field sites, there will be huge housing estates where small houses and flats will be built to accommodate the growing work force, more schools hospitals and roads will be built with the money generated by this economic power house.
What about quality of life?
How will quality of life be achieved?
The workforce will not be Permanent residents of the UK, they will earn there money here and build/buy there main family houses in another part of Europe, so if you fancy a walk/picnic in the countryside, it will be there and not here in the UK, as unfortunately our green and pleasant lands will be no more.
So guys this is my vision of a future in the UK if we vote to remain part of the EU, and if that’s the case we will have no choice but to learn a foreign language and embrace someone else’s life style, like it or not!!!Report
I will vote to Leave.
I think the most important issue when voting is to reintroduce democracy to Britain, interestingly only last year we the British celebrated the 800th Aniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, this introduced Democracy to England, and later Britain and other successful countries in the world. What I fail to understand is how can we celebrate the merits of democracy one year and the following year give up on it all together!! Thanks to democracy everyone has a say in how there country is run, and if we don’t like the government of the day we can kick them out, this will not happen if we have further integration within the EU.Report
“The money we get back from the EU is our money in the first place.”
To deal with the economic argument.Yes we make a net £8billion to the EU. But why is it that not a single Chancellor (or PM) while in office has wanted to leave the EU to help balance the books or invest in the NHS? Because they all know that £8 billion is small price to pay for EU membership in terms of the increased trade and increased inward investment we get. To further points. 1. I was until recently member of a golf club. I paid £750 p.a. Now I have resigned. I used to play three times a week which works out about £5 a round. Now if I want to play I have to pay a green fee which is £25 a round. Obviously being a member gives me far greater financial benefits. It is ludicrous to suppose we would benefit from being outside the single market. Think of it in terms of inward investment and marketing. At the end of 2015 we had £975 billion inward investment supporting around 3 million jobs. Much of this investment was because it gave the companies concerned free access to 27 other countries, or 500 million people. Think of it in personal terms. Wouldn’t you rather do business with an individual or company which immediately gave you access to 27 other individuals. And if that individual or company said they no longer had access to those other 27 individuals, wouldn’t you be looking to relocate your business with one of the other individuals where much wider access was still available. e.g. There are many car assembly plants located in UK on 5 year deals. Admittedly they have to honour the contract but you can bet your life that if we leave they will be making overtures to another EU country to host their business. If Honda leaves Swindon, for example, the town will be decimated.Report
The economic argument is indeed a strong one , financial assistance and investment does come from the EU, but the EU is not some free ride or a benevolent aunt, someone has to pay for it, either now or in the future, it is no secret that the ECB is printing billions of new euros each month just to keep the Eurozone states supplied with enough capital , this also helps to keep the EU going. As a member state of the EU we will get caught up in this. Needing to bribe Turkey to try and keep these poor people from making a sea journey that often ends in tragedy is just one example of how the EU has lost control of it’s borders and the tragedy this helps to create.
I read your golf club analogy with some interest, and I do understand your point of view, however do you think that now you have made the choice to resign from your golf club you now have the opportunity to play a round of golf wherever you want. And that choice is another form of freedom, freedom to make mistakes for sure but freedom none the less and at least they would be our mistakes. For me it is more about balance than the obvious rights and wrongs of staying or leaving.
The idea that you can be in this EU and sell products and services works great if the end user has the money to pay for what you are producing, if many of the 500 million people you are speaking about are living on the poverty line and on minimum wage , what are the chances that you will be able to sell them anything , let alone prosper from it.
Our business was import and export we sold and bought both in the EU and outside of it and in reality it is all about price, not borders. We all know that people have been making and selling their products for centuries all over the world , it is my hope that trading with the whole wide world is better than relying on just a bit of it . It will take time to get used to it and it will not be easy in a world of growing competition. But it is my belief that the EU is too big and has too many voices to do anything quickly enough and in a fair way.
Sure Honda could leave Swindon for greener pastures in the EU or elsewhere , but they could do that anyway, in or out. Honda is an international company working in a world that is often difficult and finely balanced , many years of history at a certain chocolate factory didn’t stop it from moving a large portion of its manufacturing business from UK to Poland and the UK was not having a referendum on the EU back then.
None of us have a clue what the EU is planning for the future , and if we stay in we still have little or no say in the path they will take or the financial chaos that might be around the corner and what we might be sucked into,
Please vote’ leave’Report
How can you do business with an economic community which is largely broke?
My guess is the Greeks, Spanish, Portuguese, Italians, Bulgarians,Rumanians, and many more are skint!!!
I understand the Chinese, Japanese,Americans Brazilians are fairly wealthy, consequently my guess is we are more likely to sell to them, but these wealthy nations are not part of the EU, so the EU makes it more difficult for us to sell to them.
Please explain.Report
I do not see very many posts from the ‘remain’ camp here, and I can understand why , lets be honest they have had years to change the EU for the better but member states seem to just tow the German line, ie the one that promotes and benefits the German economy. I am certain that the UK will take a hit in the financial markets at first, but be honest the EU and Euro are not doing so well as it is, and please remember that the two are very much linked.The EU does what is good for the Euro, many people are fed up with it and many would like their own countries to leave but they do not have the choice. I firmly believe that we have many historic working partners worldwide both in and out of the EU that we could trade and we should strive to return to working with everyone . My business traded with Russia (well outside of the EU !) for 20 years, we had good honest working partners in Russia often world events were very much stacked against us. Both ourselves and our Russian partners and when prices and currencies fluctuated, got our heads together and both took a look at things and did what we needed to keep our respective businesses on track and our end customers. Not being greedy, we were smart enough to realise that our long term prospects were more secure that way. The UK will just have to do the same . The UK government will have to start doing their job of running the country and not be able to blame the EU for all our woes and all the things they ‘can’t’ do. It is a fact isn’t it (?) that if our currency is devalued UK exports will get cheaper, sure imports will get more expensive I know, but won’t that encourage companies to manufacture many of the things we currently import or our farmers grow.
I just do not buy into the idea that if we leave all is lost. I see it as an chance to stand on our own two feet, build on that and not rely on EU ‘hand-outs’ that we have paid for in the first place.
Please Vote ‘Leave’ .
Report
Michael Gove last night brilliantly answered some of the many difficult questions put to him by a T V Audience in Nottinghamshire. Previously I have listened to debate after debate with much shouting mainly from the remain party and mainly against individuals who remain polite and constructive and act like gentlemen and ladies when answering the remain campaigners.
Michael Gove answered the questions, he didn’t sidetrack any issue, he listened carefully and answered the objections carefully and consistently. Both he, Boris and Nigel have taken a lot of stick but have made it very clear to me that yes there could be fears in coming out but what state is our country in now? Remain campaigners say we have never had it so good . I can only think their own nests are feather covered and they are not in touch with the real world.
Great Britain can become great again when we gain back control and not be subject to a ruling body we never elected and who are able to over rule our own laws.
May God bless our nation once more with sanctified common sense, and may our only subjection be to Him and hopefully in the future be led and directed by godly men and women who are honest and true whom we can believe and trust to lead us to a better life for ourselves our present and more importantly our future families.
Report
European Economic Community……not European Uberstate …..Vote Leave……..for the sake of our infer structure if nothing else!Report
Leave leave leave we have no more money for polish idiot Report
I know lets look at it this way: If I was to give a large percentage of my income to someone, who is almost always skint and working part time on minimum wage and a zero hours contract and who has borrowed money from most of his family and who I do not know very well and then ask him to look after my family and pay my bills , what are the chances that at some point personal self interest will take over he will convince me everything is going well and then he will pocket the lot ? = EU .
Would you :
1. Think this was a smart ting to do ?………………. = Remain
2. Manage my own affairs and go to the pub ?….. = Leave
Report
It’s a no brainer – LEAVE !!Report
I was happy to vote for membership of the Common Market 40 years ago. However, it appears that all along, the intention was for us to become part of a political union of European States. This is not what I and many others voted for.
In the words of the great Lady Thatcher; NO! NO! NO!Report