Attitudes Towards Europe

Public Sector

 
  • MORI interviewed 1,002 British adults aged 18+
  • Interviews were conducted by telephone on 22-23 June 2000
  • Results are based on all respondents unless stated
  • Data are weighted to the known population profile
  • An '*' indicates a finding of less than 0.5%, but greater than zero
  • Poll conducted by MORI on behalf of The News of the World

Q1 How would you vote if there were a General Election tomorrow? (If undecided or refused at Q1) Q2 Which party are you most inclined to support?

Conservative 34%
Labour 47%
Liberal Democrats 14%
Scottish/Welsh Nationalist 2%
Green Party 1%
Democratic/UKIP/Referendum Party 1%
Other 1%
Would not vote 11%
Undecided 8%
Refused 3%

Q2 If your chosen political party adopted a stance on Europe that you disagreed with, how likely would you be to change the way you vote? Base: All naming a party (786)

  All Naming party Con Lab Lib Dem
  % % % %
Certain to change 12 12 10 15
Very likely 15 18 12 17
Fairly likely 21 18 20 31
Fairly unlikely 17 17 18 14
Very unlikely 11 11 15 4
Certain not to change 13 13 14 13
Don't know 11 12 11 6
Certain/very likely 27 30 22 32

Q3-8 Which of the following have you heard of?

  Heard of Not heard of
  % %
Q3 The European Parliament 95 5
Q4 The European Central Bank 73 27
Q5 The European Court of Justice 88 12
Q6 The euro 96 4
Q7 Romano Prodi 23 77
Q8 Wim Duisenberg 16 84

Q9 In a referendum, would you vote for or against Britain replacing the pound sterling with the single european currency?

  All Con Lab Lib
  % % % %
For 24 12 35 28
Against 64 83 51 56
Don't know 12 5 14 16

Q10 From what you know or have heard, what would you say are the main arguments in favour of Britain joining the Euro?

  %
Easier to travel abroad 7
Make trading easier 20
Will provide stable climate 8
Not joining will result in unstable climate 1
Will increase prospects for business 11
Is inevitable, so should join asap 2
To encourage Europeans to trade-unions with Britain 8
To keep or increase British influence in the EU 3
Would make Europe more united 2
Britain would be excluded from Europe/marginalised 1
Would bring equality between nations 2
Would have the same currency/get rid of exchange costs 2
Would bring inflation down 1
Better employment conditions 1
Lower interest rates 1
Lower taxes *
Better standard of living *
Other 1
None 20
Don't know 32

Q11 And what would you say are the main arguments against Britain joining the Euro?

  %
Bad for British economy 12
Bad for British trade-unions 4
Don't want to lose the pound 13
Loss of decision-making/sovereignty 17
Loss of national identity 29
Has been a failure so far 2
Need to wait and see 1
Need time to organise/prepare 1
Should join euro when economy/pound is more stable 2
Don't have enough information at the moment 1
Lack confidence in the Government 1
Would be under European control 2
Europe is badly run/inefficient 1
Britain should stay independent 1
Too much trouble/nothing to gain 1
Expensive/would have to subsidise other countries 1
Gives too much power to Europe/Central Bank 1
Goods and services would rise in price *
Europe is too diverse/we would get lost in it all *
Would lead to more unemployment *
Inflation *
Higher taxes *
Standard of living would fall *
Euro is doing badly 1
Other *
None 8
Don't know 27

Q12 Which one of the following statements best reflects your point of view?

  All Con Lab Lib
Britain should........... % % % %
a) join the euro as soon as possible 8 2 12 9
b) join the euro, but not yet 9 9 9 9
c) have a public debate before deciding whether or not to join after a referendum 58 57 63 57
d) not join the euro for at least 10 years 10 14 6 12
e) never join the euro 12 16 7 12
Other * 1 * 0
None * 0 * 0
Don't know 2 1 3 2

Q13-21 For each of the following statements, please tell me to what extent you agree or disagree?

  Strongly agree Tend to agree Neither Tend to disagree Strongly disagree No opinion
  % % % % % %
Joining the euro would involve giving up Britain's national identity 41 21 4 15 17 2
Joining the euro would increase the stability of the British economy 13 19 12 24 19 13
Joining the euro would lead to an increase in interest rates in Britain 15 21 12 17 12 23
Joining the euro would make it easier for British business to trade-unions abroad 34 35 7 10 6 8
The government has a sensible approach to the euro 8 26 12 23 20 11
The government has tried to encourage a sensible public debate on the euro 6 18 6 31 32 7
The government are trying to hide the real facts about the euro from the public 27 24 9 21 11 8
The government are split in their opinions over the euro 42 36 4 8 2 8
The government will try to bounce the British public into agreeing to join the euro 30 31 6 15 11 7

Q22 Chancellor Gordon Brown has set out five criteria that will determine whether or not the British economy is ready to join the euro. Do you happen to know any of these five criteria? Which ones?

  %
1. Whether there can be sustainable convergence between Britain and the economies participating in a single currency. 6
2. Whether there is sufficient flexibility to cope with economic change. 1
3. The effect on investment. 1
4. The impact on Britain's financial services industry. 1
5. Whether it is good for employment. 1
Other 1
Don't know 91
Able to name any correctly 8
Able to name all five 0

Q23 On balance, do you think that Britain should keep the pound, or not?

  %
Should keep 72
Should not keep 20
Wait and see/depends 3
Don't know 5

Q24 Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that he would like to see Britain playing a role "at the heart of Europe". Do you support or oppose this view?

  %
Support 66
Oppose 18
Neither 16

Q25 Which of the main political parties do you think is most clear and united about what its policies on Europe should be?

Q26 And which of the main political parties do you think is most divided about what its policies on Europe should be?

  Clear and United Most Divided
  % %
Conservative 19 35
Labour 20 26
Lib Dem 11 3
SNP/PC * *
Green * 0
UKIP 1 *
Other * 0
All of them 1 1
None of them 22 5
Don't know 26 29

Q27-35 And for each of the following, please tell me whether you would or would not trust them to make decisions about Britain's future role in Europe which will be in the interests of the British public?

  Trust Not Trust Neither
  % % %
Q27 Prime Minister Tony Blair 43 44 13
Q28 Chancellor Gordon Brown 41 42 17
Q29 Peter Mandelson 14 62 24
Q30 Foreign Secretary Robin Cook 31 53 16
Q31 Conservative Party leader William Hague 32 52 15
Q32 Shadow Chancellor Michael Portillo 21 59 20
Q33 Liberal Democrat Leader Charles Kennedy 41 31 28
Q34 The European Central Bank 25 48 27
Q35 The European Parliament 34 48 18

Q36 How you would you describe Tony Blair's policy on Europe so far - do you think it has been a success, a failure or neither of these?

  %
Success 14
Failure 18
Neither 63
Don't know 5

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