Polling conducted by the Entrepreneurs’ Forum and Public Knowledge, a division of Dipsticks Research Ltd, has revealed that more than half of the group’s members support the UK remaining in the European Union.
When asked how they would vote if the referendum was held now 56% of members said they would vote for Britain to remain, while 32% would vote to leave, and just twelve percent were unsure. In an earlier poll, taken before the Prime Minister announced the outcome of his EU renegotiations, 53% stated they would vote to remain and 39% supported leaving.
However when asked whether they thought the Prime Minister had got a good deal, on the whole, members were less sure. 38% said they did not know enough about the deal to comment, with the remaining members split equally between those who considered it a good deal, and those who did not.
The poll also revealed that more than nine out of ten members of the not-for-profit membership organisation surveyed are likely to vote in the referendum, and that while 57% did not feel their businesses would directly benefit from the renegotiation, 50% felt it would benefit the country as a whole.
Gillian Marshall, Entrepreneurs’ Forum chief executive, said “It’s clear that while our members and the businesses community in general don’t have a uniform view on this issue, the majority support us staying in the EU, and many of them feel they need more information on the deal the Prime Minister is asking us to support.
“As an organisation the Entrepreneurs’ Forum is completely neutral when it comes to politics, it falls on the Government and the different groups campaigning on the issue to give businesses and their employees as much information as possible.”