The Referendum Battle

Public Sector

MORI's latest research on behalf of The Foreign Policy Centre shows that the majority of the public have still to make up their minds or say they can be persuaded about how they would vote in a referendum on the European Constitution. Nevertheless, at this point in time it seems as though the "no" campaign have established an early lead in the campaign with exactly half the public saying they are against Britain adopting the Constitution. This includes over a quarter (27%) who say they are strongly against. For the "yes" campaign, we find just short of a third of the public who say they are either generally (23%) or strongly (8%) in favour of Britain adopting the Constitution.

 

MORI's latest research on behalf of The Foreign Policy Centre shows that the majority of the public have still to make up their minds or say they can be persuaded about how they would vote in a referendum on the European Constitution. Nevertheless, at this point in time it seems as though the "no" campaign have established an early lead in the campaign with exactly half the public saying they are against Britain adopting the Constitution. This includes over a quarter (27%) who say they are strongly against. For the "yes" campaign, we find just short of a third of the public who say they are either generally (23%) or strongly (8%) in favour of Britain adopting the Constitution.

MORI's report, which represents the most comprehensive attempt so far, sets out the potential battleground for the future referendum as well as looking more widely at the public's general attitudes towards Europe. Copies of the report can be downloaded from The Foreign Policy Centre's website (www.fpc.org.uk)

Topline Results

  • MORI interviewed 1,063 British adults aged 15+ on the MORI face-to-face Omnibus
  • Interviews were conducted face-to-face between 22-27 July 2004
  • Results are based on all respondents unless otherwise stated
  • Data are weighted to known population profile
  • An '*' indicates a finding of less than 0.5%, but greater than zero

Q1 Which of the following best describes your own view of British participation in the single currency?

  %
I strongly support British participation 10
I am generally in favour of British participation, but could be persuaded against it if I thought it would be bad for the British economy 26
I am generally opposed to British participation, but could be persuaded in favour of it if I thought it would be good for the British economy 24
I strongly oppose British participation 32
Don't know 8
 
Support 36
Oppose 56
"Waverers" 50

Q2 Which of the following best describes your own view of British membership of the European Union?

  %
I strongly support British membership of the European Union 16
I am generally in favour of British membership of the European Union, but could be persuaded against if I thought it would be bad for Britain 34
I am generally opposed to British membership of the European Union, but could be persuaded in favour if I thought it would be good for Britain 22
I strongly oppose British membership of the European Union 19
Don't know 9

Q3 Which of the following best describes your own view of Britain adopting the new European constitution?

  %
I strongly support Britain adopting the European constitution 8
I am generally in favour of Britain adopting the European constitution, but could be persuaded against if I thought it would be bad for Britain 23
I am generally opposed to Britain adopting the European constitution, but could be persuaded in favour if I thought it would be good for Britain 23
I strongly oppose Britain adopting the European constitution 27
Don't know 19

Q4 How likely are you to vote in a referendum on whether Britain should sign the new European constitution?

  %
Certain to vote 46
Very likely to vote 17
Quite likely to vote 14
Not very likely to vote 8
Certain not to vote 7
Don't know 7

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