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EU referendum: ICM and YouGov polls confirm Leave lead

ICM and YouGov surveys show a widening lead for Leave

Tuesday 14 June 2016 09:37 BST

Boris Johnson talks to supporters during a Vote Leave rally in London (Getty )

Britain appears poised to leave the European Union with just over a week to go before referendum day.

Two new polls released on Monday night from the ICM and YouGov firms show significant leads for the Leave campaign after weeks of tightening.

Following on from and Independent/ORB survey late last week showing a 10-point lead for Leave, ICM gave Leave a six-point leave and YouGov a 7-point lead.

The morning after shift was reported The Sun newspaper, the highest circulation print paper in Britain, announced on its front page that it would back Leave.

A polling average calculated by the Britain Elects website found Leave narrowly ahead overall on 46.7 per cent and Remain on 44.5 per cent.

As ever, a breakdown of age groups by YouGov shows the elderly driving support for Brexit, with young people strongly opposed.

75 per cent of 18-24 year olds want to remain in the EU, and 50 per cent of 25-49 year olds. However just 38 per cent of 50-64 year old and 34 per cent of the 65+ age group wish to do so.

The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit

Show all 7

1/7The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit

The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit

22 May 2015

In his regular column in The Express Nigel Farage utilised the concerns over Putin and the EU to deliver a tongue in cheek conclusion. “With friends like these, who needs enemies?”

PA

The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit

13 November 2015

UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire Mike Hookem, was one of several political figures who took no time to harness the toxic atmosphere just moments after Paris attacks to push an agenda. “Cameron says we’re safer in the EU. Well I’m in the centre of the EU and it doesn’t feel very safe.”

Getty Images

The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit

19 April 2016

In an article written for The Guardian, Michael Gove attempts to bolster his argument with a highly charged metaphor in which he likens UK remaining in the EU to a hostage situation. “We’re voting to be hostages locked in the back of the car and driven headlong towards deeper EU integration.”

Rex

The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit

26 April 2016

In a move that is hard to decipher, let alone understand, Mike Hookem stuck it to Obama re-tweeting a UKIP advertisement that utilises a quote from the film: ‘Love Actually’ to dishonour the US stance on the EU. “A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend”

The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit

10 May 2016

During a speech in London former work and pensions secretary Ian Duncan Smith said that EU migration would cause an increasing divide between people who benefit from immigration and people who couldn’t not find work because of uncontrolled migration. “The European Union is a ‘force for social injustice’ which backs the ‘haves rather than the have-nots.”

EPA

The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit

15 May 2016

Cartoon character Boris Johnson made the news again over controversial comments that the EU had the same goal as Hitler in trying to create a political super state. “Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically.” “The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods.”

PA

The most scaremongering arguments for Brexit

16 May 2016

During a tour of the women’s clothing manufacturer David Nieper, Boris had ample time to cook up a new metaphor, arguably eclipsing Gove’s in which he compares the EU to ‘badly designed undergarments.’ “So I just say to all those who prophecy doom and gloom for the British Business, I say their pants are on fire. Let’s say knickers to the pessimists, knickers to all those who talk Britain down.”

Getty Images

Pollsters currently believe that the traditionally far higher turnout amongst the old will see Britain leave the EU, barring any changes in the final week of the campaign.

Later in the week Survation, Ipsos-MORI and ComRes polls are expected to shed further light on the state of the race.

In recent weeks the Leave campaign has increasingly focused on immigration as a reason for wanting to leave the EU, while the Remain campaign has warned of the economic risks of Brexit.

Vote Leave claimed today that EU subsidies to farmers, culture, and other areas worth millions of pounds would be continued to 2020 in the event of Brexit.

Alan Johnson, the head of Labour In, said this morning that the Brexiteers were practicing “fantasy economics”.

The European Union in-out referendum will take place on 23 June 2016. The deadline to register to vote has now passed.

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