EU ‘ Out campaign’ takes 4- 5% lead

London, June 6 : The campaign for Britain to leave the EU has taken a 4 to 5 percentage point lead ahead of a June 23 referendum, according to online polls by ICM and YouGov, sending sterling toward three- week lows against the US dollar.

The swing towards “Out” with less than three weeks to go comes as both sides step up their campaigning to try to win over the large number of still undecided voters with warnings over the economy and immigration. The ICM poll of 1,741 people taken June 3- 5 showed 48 per cent would vote to leave, up from 47 per cent a week earlier, while 43 per cent would opt to stay, down 1 percentage point from a week earlier. The YouGov poll of 3,495 people on June 1- 3 showed 45 per cent would opt to leave the EU, up from 40 percent in a comparable poll a month earlier, while 41 per cent would opt to stay, down from 42 percent. The poll showed 11 per cent of voters were still undecided, down 2 percentage points from a month earlier.

Of the eight most recently published surveys, one opinion poll was tied, two showed In ahead and five have showed Out in the lead, including a TNS online poll published on Monday and two previous

British trade unions representing six million workers urged their members to vote to stay in the European Union warning that a Brexit would threaten workers’ rights

ICM polls published last Tuesday.

“There has been a couple of polls in a row all showing movement towards Leave — I suppose there might be finally some movement in the race,” Anthony Wells, director of political research at YouGov, said by telephone.

Immigration dominated last week’s campaign after official figures showed net migration into Britain running at its second highest level, despite pledges by Prime Minister David Cameron to bring the numbers down. EU referendum debate has also sparked bitter infighting in the governing Conservative Party, with Prime Minister David Cameron accusing “leave” campaigners of peddling “fantasy politics.” He has urged a “remain” vote in the June 23 referendum on whether Britain should stay in the 28nation EU.