Majority 'concerned about EU power but not enough to vote to leave'

High levels of Euroscepticism among British voters may not translate into a vote to leave the EU on June 23, new research has suggested.

Fears of the impact of Brexit on the UK economy may explain the reluctance of some voters to convert their dissatisfaction with Europe into a vote to Leave, the 2015 British Social Attitudes survey indicated.

Some 22% of those questioned said they wanted to leave the EU and 43% said the Union's powers should be reduced - a level of Euroscepticism which has been topped only once since 1992 in the regular survey.

But despite this widespread concern about the EU, a clear majority of those questioned (60%) said the UK should continue to be a member, with just 30% saying it should withdraw.

Just 24% of those questioned by pollsters NatCen Social Research felt the British economy would be better off outside the EU, compared to 40% who said it would be damaged.

NatCen senior research fellow Professor John Curtice said: Britain is as sceptical about Europe as it has ever been, feelings that seem to be largely driven by concerns about the impact the EU is having on the nation's identity and cultural life, not least as a result of high levels of EU immigration.

However, for most people, on its own this scepticism is not enough to warrant leaving the EU.

The Leave campaign evidently needs to persuade more voters of its economic arguments, while Remain has to assure voters that the economic advantages of membership are worth putting up with interference from Brussels.''

Even in Scotland, which has traditionally been viewed as more pro-European than the rest of the UK, Eurosceptics were in the majority, with 17% wanting to quit the EU and 43% wanting its powers reduced - the highest levels since 1999.

Across the country, there was strong support for a number of changes to reduce the EU's impact on the UK:

:: More than two-thirds (68%) favoured reducing EU migrants' access to welfare;

:: A majority (60%) wanted cuts in EU business regulation;

:: More than half (59%) wanted to stop free access to the NHS for nationals of other EU countries; and

:: Just over half (51%) wanted to end the free movement of people in the EU. Nearly half of those questioned agreed that membership of the EU was undermining Britain's distinctive identity'' against 30% who disagreed.

:: NatCen interviewed 1,105 people about the EU between July 4 and November 2 2015, as part of the wider British Social Attitudes survey.

A ComRes poll for the Daily Mail found the lead for a Remain vote had fallen by six points since last month.

The lead now stands at 12 points, with 51% saying they would vote to stay in the EU if the referendum was held tomorrow, compared with 39% saying they would leave.

The poll found Britons were split over the Prime Minister's new deal with Brussels, with 45% believing David Cameron had succeeded in his renegotiation and 42% saying he failed.

But there were low expectations about whether the deal would have an effect on net migration to the UK, with 53% saying they did not think it would change and 21% saying it would increase as a result of the deal, while 22% said it would go down.

Some 62% of those surveyed said the current level of net migration from the EU was too high.

:: ComRes interviewed 1,000 British adults by telephone between February 19 and 22.

A YouGov poll for the Times suggested the split was significantly closer, as 38% backed Brexit and 37% would vote to stay in the union, with 25% saying they were undecided or were not planning to vote.

It marks a decrease in the nine-point lead for a vote to Leave YouGov found in a poll carried out when the Prime Minister's deal was first published earlier this month.

When asked whether they felt leaving or staying in the EU was the safer course of action, 43% said Remain and 31% said Leave, the latter down 6% on the previous survey.

And following his declaration of support for a Leave vote, Boris Johnson polled the highest when voters were asked who was most trusted over the referendum, reaching 34% ahead of Mr Cameron's 29%.

:: YouGov interviewed 3,482 people online between February 21 and 23.

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