Jun 2009 02

New polling reveals gulf between MEPs and the people7

A new TPA/ComRes poll reveals the vast gulf in opinion between MEPs in Brussels and the British public on EU issues. By comparing the views of 1,020 British adults and 101 MEPs, weighted to be representative of wider society and the European Parliament respectively, the new research demonstrates that while the public are more concerned about the EU's impact, more opposed to the Euro and more enthusiastic about referenda than ever, the politicians at the heart of the EU are fundamentally out of touch with public opinion and remain blindly positive about the project.

Remarkably, while the public are increasingly hostile to the EU on all counts and even want Britain to start defying EU rules, the politicians still believe overwhelmingly that the EU is good for people and listens to what the public want.
 
ComRes asked both groups whether they agreed or disagreed with six statements on key EU issues:
1 Referendums should be held in member states before significantly expanding EU powers;
2 Member states should break EU rules if they think it is in their national interest;
3 Generally, the EU is good for ordinary people;
4 MEPs should pay a lower rate of income tax than the people they represent;
5 The EU listens to what the general public want;
6 All EU member states become members of the Euro.

The results are very revealing as to the gulf between the opinions of politicians in Brussels and ordinary people in Britain:

Eupolltable1

A full write-up of the poll can be downloaded here.

The poll provides solid confirmation that despite massive public concern about the EU’s negative impact on ordinary people, overwhelming opposition to the Euro and a strong appetite for Britain to start breaking EU rules in the national interest, MEPs are convinced that the EU is beneficial, that it listens to people and that Britain should join the Euro and obey all EU rules.

Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:

“These results show the stark difference in opinion between the British people and politicians in Brussels. Whilst many MEPs still think the EU is great for everyone, that Britain should join the Euro and that EU rules are sacrosanct, the British public are heading in the opposite direction. People want more referenda, more national disobedience to daft EU rules and a sound rejection of the Euro. Brussels is utterly out of touch with the concerns of the real world.”

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  • Joe of Stroud

    Among the EU rules that are “sacrosanct” is the EUs Charter of Fundamental Rights; section 52 “allows limitations of basic rights if deemed in the interest of the EU”
    The officers of Europol, the EUs embryonic police force given more power in the (unreadable) Lisbon Treaty, will be immune from criminal prosecution (UK Statutory Instrument 1997 no. 2973

  • Stella Harris

    Enough is enough – why go on throwing money down the drain to be in the EU and, as a small island, having to accommodate people from other EU member countries.

  • sharon spicer

    I think that we ought to pull out of the Eu altogether.
    We will save a lot of money £40 million pound, We could do a lot with that money Back in our pockets rather than the EU’s.
    Why should we pay for the MP’s utiities and poll tax, if i was in a position where i could afford a second home i wouldn’t get my bills paid for and if the MP’s have to go to london let them stay in a hotel.
    Why have we got to pay all these stealth taxes. While i was a civil servant when i started my job i had to sign a form that i wouldn,t take on another job but it looks like one law for lowly civil servants and one for the MP’s

  • Alfred T Mahan

    Anything less democratic than the EU list system for voting can hardly be imagined. It places all the power in the hands of the party apparatchiks and it’s hardly surprising that there is such a gulf as this between the ‘elected’ and the electorate.
    We are in the grip of a tyranny which stretches its tentacles further into the daily lives of ordinary people than the ancien regime in France ever did. If the issue isn’t addressed, it’ll fester.

  • robin winston-smythe

    yes,but uk voters are notoriously terrified to disobey bureaucrats,council,eu,westminster,edinburgh,cardiff,
    they say they want change,but real change.
    if an mep,goes to jail,trousers expenses unbeknown to his party,they can still stay an mep.
    ukip are still the party worth trusting on europe and the eu,
    they will publish expenses online.

  • sharon spicer

    We should get out of the Eu and concentrate on our own poeple UKIP is the only party that say’s that they will get us out of the EU. I think that all the other main parties are out of touch with the real world let alone the poeple. I think that charity starts at home so the parties should think about us not what they can get out of being an MP or MEP. We are being treated like mushrooms, kept in the dark and fed a load of

  • Alan Rogers

    In Wales alone the NHS spends over £1,000,000 per year paying clerics to make religious visits patients and staff. This could and should be funded by a charitable trust. But the Welsh Assembly health minister Edwina Hart doesn’t want to think about the issue.
    If you live in England the situation is considerably worse!