Prime Minister David Cameron's pledge to hold a referendum on whether Britain should remain in the EU appears to have boosted his party's ratings at home, opinion polls published Sunday suggest.
Support for Cameron's Conservative Party jumped five points from the previous month in a poll conducted after he vowed Wednesday to hold an "in-or-out" vote on Europe if the party wins the next general election.
This was despite 38 percent of those surveyed saying they believed that leaving the EU would lead to a loss of jobs and trade and harm the economy.
The poll conducted by ComRes for the Independent on Sunday and Sunday Mirror newspapers put the Conservatives on 33 percent, up from 28 percent in December. That halved the lead of the main opposition Labour party, whose ratings stood unchanged at 39 percent.
Separate polls conducted for the Mail on Sunday and Sunday Express showed a similar rise in support for the Tories following the speech.
Cameron's centre-right party appeared to have won over supporters of the resurgent anti-Europe UK Independence Party, which lost four points to 10 percent.
However support for the Liberal Democrats, Britain's junior coalition partners, swelled from nine percent to 11 percent.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, criticised Cameron's referendum pledge, arguing that it would cause "years of uncertainty" and damage the economy.
Labour has also rejected the idea of an in-out vote.
In his long-awaited speech in London Cameron promised to hold a referendum by the end of 2017 if his Conservatives got into power at the next general election in 2015.
But he said he wanted to renegotiate the terms of Britain's troubled EU membership first and repatriate some powers before putting the new agreement to a vote.
Former prime minister Tony Blair, in an article in the Mail on Sunday, said a British exit from the EU would be an "extraordinary denial of its own interests".
He called on the country's pro-Europe camp to start making a case for a "yes" vote, saying: "I believe there is a sensible, solid majority in the UK for us to stay in Europe. It is time to start mobilising it."
Meanwhile the Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson said in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph that he would consider voting to leave the EU if Britain's demands were not met.
"I will vote yes if we get the right deal, but obviously logically I can’t rule out voting no," he told the right-leaning newspaper.
AFP
Sun Jan 27 2013
Cisco akan kurangkan 7 peratus tenaga kerja globalnya
Langkah mengurangkan kakitangan itu dijangka melibatkan kos pra-cukai sehingga AS$1 bilion.
Jiwa SME: Kuih tradisonal sejuk beku 'diterbangkan' ke Tanah Suci
Inovasi pembuatan makanan sejuk beku, terutama kuih muih tradisional telah berjaya membawa produk itu ke peringkat global, terutama dalam memenuhi citarasa jemaah haji dan umrah rakyat Malaysia di Tanah Suci Mekah dan Madinah.
Gol sulung Mbappe bantu Real Madrid juarai Piala Super UEFA
"Ia adalah malam yang hebat. Ia adalah detik yang hebat untuk saya. Dan kami memenangi kejuaraan, yang penting - di Madrid anda perlu sentiasa menang."
“I love you Am, bahagialah di syurga firdausi” - Aufahanie
Air mata Aufahanie sudah kering meratapi pemergian abang tercinta, Nidza Afham yang ditemui meninggal dunia selepas dilaporkan hilang.
Konsert jelajah: Taylor Swift teruskan konsert London selepas ancaman keganasan
Taylor Swift akan meneruskan persembahan di London pada Khamis, meneruskan jelajah konsert terbesar dunia di tengah-tengah kebimbangan keselamatan susulan cubaan serangan Daesh memaksa pembatalan tarikh konsert di Vienna, minggu lalu.
Taliban rai ulang tahun ketiga pemerintahan Afghanistan
Kerajaan Taliban semalam meraikan ulang tahun ketiga pemerintahannya di Afghanistan dengan perarakan tentera yang memberi penghormatan kepada bom buatan sendiri yang digunakan ketika peperangan, pesawat pejuang dan perbarisan pasukan keselamatan.
Bapa bintang bola sepak Sepanyol, Lamine Yamal ditikam - Laporan
Mounir Nasraoui, bapa kepada Lamine Yamal, ditikam pada lewat Rabu di tempat letak kereta di bandar Mataro di timur laut Sepanyol.
Warga AS dihukum penjara 15 hari di Rusia kerana bersikap samseng
Mahkamah Moscow menjatuhkan hukuman penjara 15 hari kepada warga Amerika Syarikat Joseph Tater pada Rabu kerana bersikap samseng.
Putin anggap rundingan dengan Ukraine tidak berguna
Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin menyifatkan, tindakan Ukraine yang menyerang orang awam memperlihatkan keengganan Kyiv menyelesaikan konflik peperangan dua negara dengan cara perdamaian.
Fadillah tiba di Peru, hadiri mesyuarat menteri-menteri tenaga APEC 2024
Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof tiba Lima, Peru bagi menghadiri Mesyuarat Menteri-Menteri Tenaga (EMM) di bawah Kerjasama Ekonomi Asia Pasifik (APEC) yang berlangsung selama dua hari.