47% of British voters say they want to withdraw from the EU

The Daily Express cited the recent YouGov poll, which found that 47 per cent of British voters would vote in favor of the UK withdrawing from the EU if a referendum on the issue were held.

Europe Minister David Lidington announced government plans for a ‘referendum lock’ that would give UK citizens a say on any future proposals to transfer major powers from Britain to the EU. He said: “The lock would cover any proposed transfers of competence – the EU’s ability to act in a given area – between the UK and the EU; and transfers of power, such as the giving up of UK national vetoes and moving to majority voting in significant areas, such as in Common Foreign and Security Policy.” He added: “Treaty changes which do not transfer competence or power from the UK to the EU would not be subject to a referendum. For example, Accession Treaties.”

Note EU-Digest: Yet this opinion finds almost no echo in the British Parliament. Only two-and-a-half per cent of of MPs are declared opponents of EU membership; if you exclude Northern Ireland MPs, the figure drops to below one per cent. Obviously this means the British Public seems to be listening to the very vocal group of Euro sceptics while the parliamentarians who are supposed to know better are themselves doing a pretty bad job in promoting the benefits of the EU. 


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