By KUNA,
London : A clear majority of British voters would back a looser relationship with the European Union in a referendum, according to a poll here Monday.
Some 41 percent of those questioned by the group Global Vision, which campaigns for a looser relationship with the EU, said they would like Britain’s relationship with the EU to be based on trade and co-operation, while opting out of political and economic union, compared with 27 percent who want the UK to remain a full EU member and 26 percent who favour withdrawal.
And when asked how they would vote in a referendum, 64 percent said they would back a renegotiated looser relationship, against 26 percent who would oppose it. However, only 36 percent of those supporting the change thought there was a good chance of achieving it, with many saying that no British Government would ever enter the required negotiations, or that other EU nations would not agree a new arrangement for the UK.
Some 57 percent said the UK should leave the EU if other European nations blocked an attempt to renegotiate its membership.
Support for the change was evenly spread across the political spectrum, with 71 percent of supporters of each of the big three political parties (Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats) saying they would back the change in a referendum.
The poll comes ahead of a crucial week for the process of European integration.
Ireland votes this Thursday on the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which is also subject to a High Court challenge, in central London, today and a vote in the House of Lords this Wednesday.
Global Vision director Miss Ruth Lea said “A looser relationship with the EU based on trade and cooperation, rather the full political and economic integration, is consistently the option of choice for the British people”.