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Track global public opinion on current issues.
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Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
Britons Want European Constitution Referendum
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in Britain believe their country’s participation in the European Union Constitution Treaty (EUCT) must be put to a nationwide vote, according to a poll by YouGov released by the Daily Telegraph. 64 per cent of respondents believe a referendum should be held.
The heads of state of the European Union (EU) officially signed the European Constitution on Oct. 29, 2004. The project for a continental body of law was practically abandoned in 2005, after voters in France and the Netherlands rejected the proposed document in two plebiscites.
In June, the leaders of the 27 EU member nations reached an agreement in Germany to revise the proposed Constitution, create a new EUCT before the end of this year, and achieve its ratification by mid-2009.
Also in June, Gordon Brown officially became Labour leader and prime minister, replacing Tony Blair. Brown had worked as chancellor of the exchequer. Blair served as Britain’s prime minister since May 1997, winning majority mandates in the 1997, 2001 and 2005 elections to the House of Commons.
On Oct. 2, Conservative shadow foreign secretary William Hague called for a vote in the EUCT, declaring, "Labour promised a referendum on the EU constitution at the last election. Without holding one on a treaty so similar, Gordon Brown has no democratic mandate to surrender the rights and powers of the people of this country. (...) Only two years after an election in which all three parties promised the voters a referendum, only the Conservative party is still true to its word."
Polling Data
Do you believe that a national referendum should, or should not, be held to decide whether Britain should ratify the new European Union treaty?
|
Yes, there should be a referendum |
64% |
|
No, there should not be a referendum |
12% |
|
Not sure |
24% |
Source: YouGov / Daily Telegraph
Methodology: Online interviews with 2,165 British adults, conducted from Sept. 26 to Sept. 28, 2007. No margin of error was provided.