Poll says the Liberal Democrats right over EU 'in or out' referendum

10.00.00am GMT Tue 4th Mar 2008

Nick Clegg MP

An exclusive poll conducted by MORI shows that the public back the Liberal Democrat stance on a European referendum by 2:1.

Nick Clegg says "Last Tuesday, my colleagues and I tabled an amendment in the House of Commons on the Liberal Democrat proposal for a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.

"We did so because we believe that the European debate has poisoned Britain's politics for too long. If we are to look to the future and tackle the new global challenges such as climate change and international terrorism we need to decide once and for all whether that future lies within the European Union, or outside it.

"The arcane procedures of the House of Commons meant that we weren't given the chance even to debate the matter. We protested strongly against that decision because we believe that our proposal would provide the choice that the public really want. Today we have received the results of an opinion poll conducted by independent pollsters Ipsos MORI which confirms that we were right to take this stance.

"Their representative sample of over 1,000 people indicates that by a margin of more than 2:1, the public prefer our call for a referendum on membership of the European Union, to the Conservative proposal for a referendum only on the Lisbon Treaty.

"The results of this poll demonstrates that we are the only political party on the side of the British public on the European referendum.

"It also shows that people understand the huge difference between an honest debate about our future in Europe, and David Cameron's mealy mouthed support for a restrictive referendum on the specific details of the Lisbon Treaty.

"It`s still not too late for him to change his mind and support us in giving the public the real choice on Europe that they want.

"Over the next few days we will be strongly pressing our case for this referendum in Parliament and outside. In that referendum we would argue long and hard for Britain's vital place in the EU, and, I believe, defeat the Eurosceptics for a generation.

"I would relish the chance to lead the Liberal Democrats at the forefront of that campaign.