Usually in December, when people think of Brussels, it’s often the sprout variety dished up as fine accompaniment to turkey on Christmas day. But with the tide of rhetoric surrounding immigration continuing to occupy the political agenda during the festive season, the word Brussels is more likely to mean the relationship between Britain and the EU.
The research by ORB International also found that the threat of leaving the EU is significantly higher in the UK than any of the other 13 countries polled. Almost two thirds (64%) of the EU countries surveyed would prefer to remain part of the EU, 30% would like their country to leave.
Johnny Heald, Managing Director of ORB International says the results suggest the UK largely stands alone in their opinion of the EU. “Across the continent we are twice as likely to want to stay in than come out of the Union. With a general election coming next year and Europe back on the agenda and the rise of UKIP, David Cameron has a fight on his hands if he is to persuade the electorate that remaining part of the EU is in the best interest of Britain”.
The poll also suggests that enthusiasm for the Euro in countries using the single currency might be waning. Almost 42% of those asked in Germany say they would rather see a return to the Deutschmark, marginally lower than the 47% who are happy with the current currency arrangement. Among the British 86% would rather keep the pound.
The rise in support for the UK Independence party has led to all main political parties putting Britain’s relationship with the EU as a political point-scoring exercise on each party’s stance on immigration.
Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to ‘get tough’ on EU migration by restricting access to welfare benefits and the NHS. UKIP's leader, Nigel Farage promises to leave the European Union and ‘retake control of Britain’s borders’. Labour leader Ed Miliband has pledged if he is elected Prime Minister that the Labour party ‘will build alliances with others, not burn them, to help necessary change in the way the European Union works’.
Reacting to the results of the poll, Alan Murad of Eurosceptic campaign group ‘Get Britain Out’ said they are pleased to see the tide is turning in their favour.
“Despite relentless propaganda from the mainstream media, The Great British Public are waking up to the fact that the EU is the man-made catastrophe. The EU ruling elite are utterly detached from the concerns of ordinary people, both in Britain and in Europe. They might as well be living on another planet”.
Meanwhile former cabinet minister Ken Clarke said in an interview that the political debate in Britain surrounding Europe had been ‘fairly disastrous’ and called for fellow pro-Europeans to ‘organise themselves properly’. Former Labour Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has agreed to become a joint president of ‘British Influence’, alongside Ken Clarke and Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, to promote Britain’s relationship with Europe.
But the poll published in the Sunday Times isn’t the first time public opinion on Britain leaving the EU has been revealed. A recent poll for ITV found that 42% would vote to leave the EU, 31% would choose to remain as part of the union.
During the Conservative Party conference in October, David Cameron claimed immigration would be at the heart of the renegotiation strategy for Europe, promising an in-out referendum by 2017 if the Conservative win a majority in next May’s general election. However Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has met the political slogans of ‘closing Britain’s borders’ and ‘getting tough on EU migration’ and ‘making it harder for immigrants to claim benefits’ by reiterating that the founding principle of freedom of movement among member states is not negotiable.
In the last 19 months, 560,000 people have immigrated to the UK, that’s 68,000 more than the year before, 214,000 are from countries within the European Union.
However, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Germany is officially the destination of choice for migrants taking advantage of the freedom of movement rule inside the EU.
In 2012, nearly 30% of migrants travelled to Germany compared to seven percent who moved to Britain.
