By Lauren Dewfall
‘Public will vote to stay in the EU at the up and coming referendum’, predicts De Montfort University politics lecturer Alistair Jones.
The referendum, which is set to take place on 23 June, will decide whether Britain should stay part of the European Union.
Mr Jones said: “At the way it stands now, I suspect the vote will be close, but ultimately people will vote yes to staying in the EU.”
The referendum comes after Prime Minister David Cameron agreed a package of changes to the UK’s membership of the EU during two days of intensive talks with state leaders in February.
Mr Jones said: “If we do vote to stay in the EU things will largely stay the same. There will be small changes but most of the public won’t notice any difference.”
The agreed package included child benefit payments for migrant workers with children overseas to be recalculated based on the cost of living in their home countries.
Mr Jones also added: “We can’t predict what the changes will be if we leave the EU either, its an open race in the sense that two thirds will vote either way and a third of voters don’t know how they will vote.”
The topic will be discussed in a panel debate with DMU academics as part of the university’s Festival of Ideas. The debate will be held in the university’s Hugh Aston building on Thursday 10 March at 1pm.
