Express EU Poll: "Overwhelming" Result

We did fine for 700+ years without the EU. What could possibly happen if we left? Well for a start there would be no stupid law banning airchecks for illegal immigrants, we could control our own immigration, we could control immigration from EU countries as well as non-EU countries, we could bring back freedom of speech and send political correctness off to pack its bags, we could scrap the hated Human Rights Act and boot terrorists and preachers like Abu Quatada out of the country.

We could keep the pound, the acre, and all of our measurements we are used to. We could live in peace without the Europol booting the door down accusing us of breeding rabbits.

We could be free once again and control our own destiny, rather than people in a foreign country who think they know how to govern us better than ourselves.

My God! You're right! Leaving the EU would be a disaster!

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Bear sod off! with your attempt to scare people that leaving the EU will kill us as country you know it is not true so stop trying please.

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95% is almost unbelievable. I wouldn't have thought they would have got that even over the referendum question. The previous wisdom was that leaving was an extreme position, but this says that staying in is now the extreme position, at least with Express readers. I should also think Mail readers would be similarly bombastic about it and quite a lot of the rest of Middle England. They have finally sussed it and I guess a lot of it is down to that Irish blow to them. The EU are loosing the plot, there is hope.

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It wasn't exactly a scientific poll of disinterested parties selected at random.

Most Express readers didn't vote even after being given the opportunity. The people who were always likely to vote were the anti-EU readership.

The Express had a circulation of 690,409 according to the latest ABC figures. If we allow 3 readers per copy (say), we have just shy of 2 million readers. 10,000 x 200. 95% of half a per cent of readers voted. That's less than a fifth of our vote share at the last GE and this was based on a readership that naturally supports our position.

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I think it was a poll on ITV recently that also showed big figures against the EU. I agree 95% is distorted but the Express is pretty mainstream so there must be a significant opposition growing in middle England somewhere.

My theory is that it is the economy that is waking people up. For a long time we have had it relatively good, the uneconomic policies of Labour and the EU have been eating away at the country's capital and like a bank account you only notice you are broke when you can't withdraw any more money. Labour and their mates at the EU have kept the illusion running quite well due to their policy of keeping interest rates low so that there is an artificial inflation in the value of the housing market.

Now the reality is beginning to bite and the Euro is not the currency of choice currently. The Dollar was first hit but now it has rebounded and the EU monetary system is now going to pay the price of Stalinist economic policies. People will now listen but before they were laissez-faire about it. Why worry when you have a job, a house and money in your pocket. People are generally like that, a lot of people are extremely short sighted when it comes to money, but when it does bite them they will not be happy.

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I agree. The figures are a distortion, but I think that other more scientific polls are showing a hardening of anti-EU opinion and many people are not satisfied. We need to capitalise, as you highlight, on people's disquiet, but we mustn't be misled by poorly presented figures.

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Originally Posted by Earthling:
We did fine for 700+ years without the EU. What could possibly happen if we left? Well for a start there would be no stupid law banning airchecks for illegal immigrants, we could control our own immigration, we could control immigration from EU countries as well as non-EU countries, we could bring back freedom of speech and send political correctness off to pack its bags, we could scrap the hated Human Rights Act and boot terrorists and preachers like Abu Quatada out of the country.

Firstly, in a world that is becoming increasingly globalised, I'm not sure strict immigration checks for everyone is what's needed, or even desirable. The economy works much more efficiently when employers can get hold of the people and skills they need, whether the come from home or abroad. Putting complicated, and above all, slow checks or restrictions in place will only harm economic activity.

As for illegal immigration, once again it's not really a case of controlling the border more effectively - normally these people have gotten through the border quite legally and then failed to leave.

I'm also not sure you can blame the EU for either political correctness or a loss of free speech - unless you can show me the relevant directives.

The ECHR doesn't even have anything to do with the EU. Check your facts please.

A lot of your gripes seem to come from the UK's international, rather than EC obligations (eg. Asylum policy).

Originally Posted by Earthling:
We could keep the pound, the acre, and all of our measurements we are used to. We could live in peace without the Europol booting the door down accusing us of breeding rabbits.

I'll agree that people should be able to trade in either imperial or metric (but they must offer metric IMO), but having a common weights and measurements system is desirable as it makes comparing prices that much easier.

A final note on immigration - I'm actually a huge fan of the Schengen area - moving between France and Germany last year was a dream. I wish the UK would join the Schengen area.

Originally Posted by Earthling:
We could be free once again and control our own destiny, rather than people in a foreign country who think they know how to govern us better than ourselves.

In my field of expertise, EU law is generally superior to the British law it supercedes. In fact, harmonisation has generally made things cheaper and of a better quality.

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