Enormity of ‘Brexit’ is hitting home, poll shows

BATTLE lines are forming for what David Cameron’s critics hope will be his Waterloo.

Ex-Tory environment secretary Owen Paterson is among seven MPs, some Labour, meeting to plan the campaign to pull out of the European Union.

On the opposite side, veteran Alan Johnson is leading Labour’s “stay ” campaign.

The defining battle for Britain’s future as a nation was made inescapable in January 2013 when Mr Cameron warned of “frustration wi th t he EU ” and demanded “fundamental change”, before saying there would be an in-out referendum after negotiating new terms.

It was a colossal gamble. Only two months earlier, an Ipsos MORI poll had found Britons wanted to leave, by 48 per cent to 44.

Since his re-election, the Prime Minister has spent a lot of time meeting the other 27 leaders to negotiate a deal he can sell to the public as a success. He is being hugely courteous towards them but he does not need to yell and scream — the “Out” campaign will do that for him. It could easily become a political car crash for him. But today’s poll suggests the public is quietly backing away from the exit door.

It confirms a trend that has been emerging since Mr Cameron’s 2013 speech, perhaps because the referendum has focused minds on the enormity of a Brexit.

Public opinion could lurch violently once the eurosceptic mass media joins the fray, but even with that caveat, the biggest gamble of the PM’s career looks less dangerous than it did a year ago.