Get Britain Out has been actively polling public opinion on the EU and the way it’s going to hit the British people, in their pockets and their communities.
The findings are not good for the political class.
Our first poll of the year was breath-taking. A whopping 79% of the Great British Public does not want immigration controls to be lifted on Romania and Bulgaria in 2014. Under EU law, however, it is illegal to maintain these controls beyond 31st December 2013.
Across every ‘region’ and every party identifier – even the Lib Dems and Greens – majorities want the immigration controls to remain. Never before has there been so much opposition to a flagship EU policy.
Of course it would be near on impossible for this unregulated free movement principle to be ‘renegotiated’. It is a staple of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which have been made into EU law courtesy of the Lisbon Treaty. If these principles were up for renegotiation, I doubt they would be labelled ‘fundamental’.
Similarly, Cameron’s commitment to a referendum sometime in the future failed to shift the British public. 61% want a referendum before the next election. The number of those demanding a vote is higher among Labour voters (61%) than Conservatives (58%), but only just.
The two polls go together. The public demands a vote before the election because the EU is changing and it is taking the UK with it. We can see what is coming; unlike the political class who sit there with their eyes shut muttering to themselves that if they can’t see it, it won’t happen.
Find out more about Get Britain Out here.
