Sunday 25 June 2000
- MORI interviewed 1,002 British adults aged 18+
- Interviews were conducted by telephone on 22-23 June 2000
- Results are based on all respondents unless stated
- Data are weighted to the known population profile
- An '*' indicates a finding of less than 0.5%, but greater than zero
- Poll conducted by MORI on behalf of The News of the World
Q1 How would you vote if there were a General Election tomorrow?
(If undecided or refused at Q1)
Q2 Which party are you most inclined to support?
| | % |
|---|
| Conservative | 34 |
| Labour | 47 |
| Liberal Democrats | 14 |
| Scottish/Welsh Nationalist | 2 |
| Green Party | 1 |
| Democratic/UKIP/Referendum Party | 1 |
| Other | 1 |
| |
| Would not vote | 11 |
| Undecided | 8 |
| Refused | 3 |
Q2 If your chosen political party adopted a stance on Europe that you disagreed with, how likely would you be to change the way you vote?
Base: All naming a party (786)
| | All Naming party | Con | Lab | Lib Dem |
|---|
| | % | % | % | % |
|---|
| Certain to change | 12 | 12 | 10 | 15 |
| Very likely | 15 | 18 | 12 | 17 |
| Fairly likely | 21 | 18 | 20 | 31 |
| Fairly unlikely | 17 | 17 | 18 | 14 |
| Very unlikely | 11 | 11 | 15 | 4 |
| Certain not to change | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 |
| Don't know | 11 | 12 | 11 | 6 |
| |
| Certain/very likely | 27 | 30 | 22 | 32 |
Q3-8 Which of the following have you heard of?
| | Heard of | Not heard of |
|---|
| | % | % |
|---|
| Q3 The European Parliament | 95 | 5 |
| Q4 The European Central Bank | 73 | 27 |
| Q5 The European Court of Justice | 88 | 12 |
| Q6 The euro | 96 | 4 |
| Q7 Romano Prodi | 23 | 77 |
| Q8 Wim Duisenberg | 16 | 84 |
Q9 In a referendum, would you vote for or against Britain replacing the pound sterling with the single european currency?
| | All | Con | Lab | Lib |
|---|
| | % | % | % | % |
|---|
| For | 24 | 12 | 35 | 28 |
| Against | 64 | 83 | 51 | 56 |
| Don't know | 12 | 5 | 14 | 16 |
Q10 From what you know or have heard, what would you say are the main arguments in favour of Britain joining the Euro?
| | % |
|---|
| Easier to travel abroad | 7 |
| Make trading easier | 20 |
| Will provide stable climate | 8 |
| Not joining will result in unstable climate | 1 |
| Will increase prospects for business | 11 |
| Is inevitable, so should join asap | 2 |
| To encourage Europeans to trade-unions with Britain | 8 |
| To keep or increase British influence in the EU | 3 |
| Would make Europe more united | 2 |
| Britain would be excluded from Europe/marginalised | 1 |
| Would bring equality between nations | 2 |
| Would have the same currency/get rid of exchange costs | 2 |
| Would bring inflation down | 1 |
| Better employment conditions | 1 |
| Lower interest rates | 1 |
| Lower taxes | * |
| Better standard of living | * |
| |
| Other | 1 |
| None | 20 |
| Don't know | 32 |
Q11 And what would you say are the main arguments against Britain joining the Euro?
| | % |
|---|
| Bad for British economy | 12 |
| Bad for British trade-unions | 4 |
| Don't want to lose the pound | 13 |
| Loss of decision-making/sovereignty | 17 |
| Loss of national identity | 29 |
| Has been a failure so far | 2 |
| Need to wait and see | 1 |
| Need time to organise/prepare | 1 |
| Should join euro when economy/pound is more stable | 2 |
| Don't have enough information at the moment | 1 |
| Lack confidence in the Government | 1 |
| Would be under European control | 2 |
| Europe is badly run/inefficient | 1 |
| Britain should stay independent | 1 |
| Too much trouble/nothing to gain | 1 |
| Expensive/would have to subsidise other countries | 1 |
| Gives too much power to Europe/Central Bank | 1 |
| Goods and services would rise in price | * |
| Europe is too diverse/we would get lost in it all | * |
| Would lead to more unemployment | * |
| Inflation | * |
| Higher taxes | * |
| Standard of living would fall | * |
| Euro is doing badly | 1 |
| |
| Other | * |
| None | 8 |
| Don't know | 27 |
Q12 Which one of the following statements best reflects your point of view?
| | All | Con | Lab | Lib |
|---|
| Britain should … | % | % | % | % |
|---|
| a) join the euro as soon as possible | 8 | 2 | 12 | 9 |
| b) join the euro, but not yet | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
c) have a public debate before deciding
whether or not to join after a referendum | 58 | 57 | 63 | 57 |
| d) not join the euro for at least 10 years | 10 | 14 | 6 | 12 |
| e) never join the euro | 12 | 16 | 7 | 12 |
| |
| Other | * | 1 | * | 0 |
| None | * | 0 | * | 0 |
| Don't know | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Q13-21 For each of the following statements, please tell me to what extent you agree or disagree?
| | Strongly agree | Tend to agree | Neither | Tend to disagree | Strongly disagree | No opinion |
|---|
| | % | % | % | % | % | % |
|---|
| Joining the euro would involve giving up Britain's national identity | 41 | 21 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 2 |
| Joining the euro would increase the stability of the British economy | 13 | 19 | 12 | 24 | 19 | 13 |
| Joining the euro would lead to an increase in interest rates in Britain | 15 | 21 | 12 | 17 | 12 | 23 |
| Joining the euro would make it easier for British business to trade-unions abroad | 34 | 35 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 8 |
| The government has a sensible approach to the euro | 8 | 26 | 12 | 23 | 20 | 11 |
| The government has tried to encourage a sensible public debate on the euro | 6 | 18 | 6 | 31 | 32 | 7 |
| The government are trying to hide the real facts about the euro from the public | 27 | 24 | 9 | 21 | 11 | 8 |
| The government are split in their opinions over the euro | 42 | 36 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 8 |
| The government will try to bounce the British public into agreeing to join the euro | 30 | 31 | 6 | 15 | 11 | 7 |
Q22 Chancellor Gordon Brown has set out five criteria that will determine whether or not the British economy is ready to join the euro. Do you happen to know any of these five criteria? Which ones?
| | % |
|---|
1. Whether there can be sustainable convergence between
Britain and the economies participating in a single currency. | 6 |
| 2. Whether there is sufficient flexibility to cope with economic change. | 1 |
| 3. The effect on investment. | 1 |
| 4. The impact on Britain's financial services industry. | 1 |
| 5. Whether it is good for employment. | 1 |
| Other | 1 |
| Don't know | 91 |
| |
| Able to name any correctly | 8 |
| Able to name all five | 0 |
Q23 On balance, do you think that Britain should keep the pound, or not?
| | % |
|---|
| Should keep | 72 |
| Should not keep | 20 |
| Wait and see/depends | 3 |
| Don't know | 5 |
Q24 Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that he would like to see Britain playing a role "at the heart of Europe". Do you support or oppose this view?
| | % |
|---|
| Support | 66 |
| Oppose | 18 |
| Neither | 16 |
Q25 Which of the main political parties do you think is most clear and united about what its policies on Europe should be?
Q26 And which of the main political parties do you think is most divided about what its policies on Europe should be?
| | Clear and United | Most Divided |
|---|
| | % | % |
|---|
| Conservative | 19 | 35 |
| Labour | 20 | 26 |
| Lib Dem | 11 | 3 |
| SNP/PC | * | * |
| Green | * | 0 |
| UKIP | 1 | * |
| Other | * | 0 |
| All of them | 1 | 1 |
| None of them | 22 | 5 |
| Don't know | 26 | 29 |
Q27-35 And for each of the following, please tell me whether you would or would not trust them to make decisions about Britain's future role in Europe which will be in the interests of the British public?
| | Trust | Not Trust | Neither |
|---|
| | % | % | % |
|---|
| Q27 Prime Minister Tony Blair | 43 | 44 | 13 |
| Q28 Chancellor Gordon Brown | 41 | 42 | 17 |
| Q29 Peter Mandelson | 14 | 62 | 24 |
| Q30 Foreign Secretary Robin Cook | 31 | 53 | 16 |
| Q31 Conservative Party leader William Hague | 32 | 52 | 15 |
| Q32 Shadow Chancellor Michael Portillo | 21 | 59 | 20 |
| Q33 Liberal Democrat Leader Charles Kennedy | 41 | 31 | 28 |
| Q34 The European Central Bank | 25 | 48 | 27 |
| Q35 The European Parliament | 34 | 48 | 18 |
Q36 How you would you describe Tony Blair's policy on Europe so far - do you think it has been a success, a failure or neither of these?
| | % |
|---|
| Success | 14 |
| Failure | 18 |
| Neither | 63 |
| Don't know | 5 |