Poll shows Britons tilting toward leaving EU

LONDON/WILDBAD KREUTH, Germany: A majority of Britons who have made up their minds would vote to leave the European Union in a forthcoming referendum, making Britain by far the most reluctant member of the 28-nation bloc, an opinion poll published on Thursday showed.
As Prime Minister David Cameron pushed for a deal from other EU leaders to improve London’s membership terms before a vote he could call as early as June, the ORB poll indicated that opposition to the European Union was growing in Britain.
While 21 percent of voters are still undecided, 43 percent want to leave the EU and 36 percent want to stay, the survey showed.
When the undecided are stripped out, 54 percent of voters want a British exit, or ‘Brexit,’ up from 51 percent a year ago, and 46 percent want to stay, down from 49 percent.
The public scepticism contrasted with Cameron’s latest declaration of optimism that a deal can be struck on his demands for changes in Britain’s relationship with Brussels, including reducing benefit rights for EU migrants working in the UK.
“We believe that all these issues can be dealt with. The discussions are going well,” Cameron said in Wildbad Kreuth, Bavaria, after what he said was an “excellent meeting” with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over dinner on Wednesday.
The ORB poll indicates that the referendum could be far closer than some politicians had assumed and that the result will depend on a fifth of voters who are still undecided.
“Despite the impending vote on Brexit, significantly more people report to have felt further removed from Europe over the last twelve months than closer to it,” Johnny Heald, managing director of ORB International, told Reuters.