A new poll reveals that as the European Union (EU) referendum approaches, key arguments proffered by the Remain campaign are less popular that those put forward by Brexit campaigners.
An exercise carried out by the research, polling, and strategic consulting firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (GQR) has shown that exposure to the arguments being employed by the Remain campaign and their Eurosceptic opponents in the EU referendum turns people towards voting for Brexit.
GQR asked respondents twice how they would vote in June’s In/Out referendum. After recording their first response, the pollsters ran through the talking points used by each side in the debate, reports Newsweek.
The results of the exercise showed voters were more likely to say they would vote to leave the EU after they had heard the arguments than before.
Before exposure to the most important parts of each side’s case, 41 per cent of those surveyed said they would be voting to remain in the politico-trading bloc, with 37 per cent saying they would vote to leave.
After respondents were better informed, having heard both sides put to them, an increased 40 per cent then said they would vote to leave the EU, taking a lead over the 39 per cent who still said they would vote to remain.
GQR pollster James Morris said that a lack of emotion may be to blame, explaining:
“At the moment, the Remain campaign aren’t triggering strong emotions, it really is quite dessicated.”
This backs up recent warnings from the senior Labour Party politicians leading their party’s Remain campaign, telling fellow party members and supporters on the left that the referendum could be lost unless their case is backed with more passion.
The examples GQR’s Mr. Morris gave with regards to the differing strengths of the campaigns show that while 56 per cent of voters were convinced by Eurosceptic arguments about curbing EU migration, and 58 per cent were at least somewhat convinced that leaving the EU would “give Britain back control of its own laws,” the strongest arguments for the Remain campaign — such as the risk Brexit might pose to jobs — only mostly convinced a lesser 41 per cent.
Contradicting those who believe the Remain campaign are the ones with the detailed and convincing arguments, Mr. Morris advises that for them to win they will need to employ the much-criticised ‘Project Fear’ tactics, highlighting uncertainty and risk to their fullest extent. He concluded:
“The only strong weapon that the remain side have is basically just to say ‘is it really worth taking the risk’… without getting into any of the substance of the arguments.”