Little Change On Euro Vote

Public opinion on the Euro has changed little since last year, with a majority still saying they would vote 'no' in a referendum on Britain joining the single European currency. Research by MORI Financial Service for Schroder Salomon Smith Barney shows 57% of people in Britain say they would vote 'no' when asked 'If there were a referendum now on whether Britain should be part of a single European currency, how would you vote?'. Three in 10 (31%) say they would vote yes and one in 10 (11%) said they did not know how they would vote.

When asked 'If the government were to strongly urge that Britain should be part of a single European currency, how would you vote?', a third (34%) say they would vote yes and 56% say they would vote no.

In research carried out for Schroder Salomon Smith Barney in September 2002, more than half (56%) said they would vote no, less than a third (29%) said they would vote yes and a further 15% said they do not know how they would vote. When asked how they would vote if the Government were to 'strongly urge' Britain should be part of the EMU, a third (35%) said they would vote yes, half (52%) would vote no and 13% said they did not know how they would vote.

UK -- Public Opinion Over EMU Entry (Using the question "If the government were to strongly urge that Britain should be part of a single European currency, how would you vote?"), Nov 97-Jan 03

• Economic & Market Analysis -- Sterling Weekly [pdf format -- 153K]

Technical details

Latest polling conducted between 16-21 January 2003. Sample size 2,057 people for latest, similar for earlier polls.