New research by pollsters Ipsos MORI has revealed that more people in the UK wish to remain in the EU as a result of the rise of UKIP.
The Daily Mail reports that support in the UK for the EU is at its highest since 1991.
The figures show that since 2012, support for UKIP has grown by 13 points – however, support for the EU has grown by 12 points. A total of 56% of those polled said they wanted the UK to remain in the EU, compared with 36% who wished to leave.
The new EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has called for measures to make immigration to the UK much easier – despite David Cameron pledging to renegotiate the UK’s membership to reduce immigration from the EU to the UK.
The head of political research at Ipsos MORI, Gordon Skinner, said:
“With debate about Britain’s relationship with the EU a hot topic right now, our poll shows support for Britain’s membership is up significantly since the depths of the Eurozone crisis in 2011 – although that does not mean that the public simply want the relationship to stay the same.”
Mr Juncker has said that freedom of movement in the EU is a founding principle and is not negotiable – and should be made easier to help companies find the right candidates for jobs.
A spokesman for UKIP said that 51% of a poll had agreed with UKIP’s call for a “free trade deal with the EU” – compared with 42% who wanted to strengthen the UK’s ties with the EU of maintain the current status quo.
The spokesman said UKIP could “live with those statistics”.
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