Despite UKIP’s well publicised growth in recent years, the sway of public opinions appears to be moving to a more pro-Europe stance.
According to a recent poll by Ipsos MORI, the constant snipes at the European Union by UKIP and many elements of the Conservative Party has caused the majority of the public to decide that being in Europe is better than standing alone.
Asked whether the UK should stay in or get out of Europe, 56% of people said that they would vote to stay compared to 36% wanting to leave.
These results show the most positive feelings towards Europe from the British electorate since 1991 when the European Community became the European Union after the Maastricht Treaty, with the greatest swing coming in the last two years, coinciding with the rise of UKIP.
The majority of supporters of all the main three parties want to remain in Europe, with 82% of Lib Dems, 73% of Labour supporters, and 51% of Tories all preferring to see the UK as part of the EU. Interestingly, 11% of UKIP voters also want to remain with the EU.
Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos MORI said:
“With the debate about Britain’s relationship with the EU a hot topic right now, our poll shows support for Britain’s membership is up significantly since the depths of the Eurozone debt crisis in 2011 – although that does not mean that the public simply want the relationship to stay the same. There is a polarisation in views – UKIP supporters are twice as likely to say Europe is going to be important to their vote in the next election (although it is still some way behind immigration) and are much more sceptical, while supporters of the other parties put the issue lower down on their list and are more in favour of membership.”
