Welcome to the KAS UK EU referendum webpage. Here, between now and the referendum, we will be providing regular updates, including our own reports and publications, opinion polls and predictions, information on the different parties and their positions, interesting quotes and links. We will also be providing additional information about the referendum process.
A referendum on whether the United Kingdom will stay or leave the European Union will be held on 23 June. The question is why.
Following the general election in May 2015, in which Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party won a majority in the House of Commons, he reiterated the party's manifesto commitment to hold an "in-out" referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union, following negotiations with EU leaders.
The Treaties of the European Union provide for a member state to leave the EU, either on the basis of a negotiated withdrawal agreement or without one. If the UK were to leave the EU following a referendum, it is likely that the Government would negotiate an agreement with the EU, which would probably contain transitional arrangements as well as provide for the UK’s long-term future relations with the EU. There is no precedent for such an agreement, but it would in all likelihood come at the end of complex and lengthy negotiations.
The referendums outcome is going to be a vital element in determining the future of the European Union.
Reality Check: The EU referendum
Full text of EU’s special status deal for Britain
David Cameron's official Letter of list of demands to the EU Council President Donald Tusk
Donald Tusk's official letter to the European Council on the issue of a UK in/out referendum
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22.06.2016: What will happen if the UK leaves the EU?
21.06.2016: David Beckham backs remain 'for future of our children'
21.06.2016: Leavers are deceiving their voters about the pain that Europe could unleash on us after Brexit
20.06.2016: Sayeeda Warsi: leave tactics will create more divided and xenophobic UK
20.06.2016: Britain’s EU referendum: Divided we fall
20.06.2016: EU referendum: Which type of person wants to leave, and which type wants to remain?
14.06.2016: The arguments for voting Remain
07.06.2016: EU referendum: Fact checking the big claims
07.06.2016: Surge in voter registrations expected before EU referendum deadline
01.06.2016: EU referendum: Boris and Gove pledge tough new immigration system after Brexit
28.05.2016: Brexit and science: The European experiment
26.06.2015: Nearly two-thirds of voters think UK will remain in EU, Ashcroft poll finds
24.05.2016: EU Referendum: How will turnout affect the result?
19.05.2016: For Russia, Brexit would be an opportunity, not a tragedy
18.05.2016: Brexit would threaten world-class British research, major report warns
17.05.2016: EU referendum: David Cameron says Isis and Putin 'might be happy' with Brexit
17.05.2016: EU referendum: Leaked letter 'shows how Cameron plotted against Leave'
16.05.2016: Jeremy Corbyn 'would be campaigning for Brexit if he was not Labour leader', says long-time ally Tariq Ali
12.05.2016: Eurosceptic SNP voters could influence EU referendum result, polling data shows
10.05.2016: EU referendum: Iain Duncan Smith accused of 'lying' over German veto
10.05.2016: EU referendum campaigns to reveal biggest donors
10.05.2016: Iain Duncan Smith says Germany had 'veto' power over David Cameron EU deal
09.05.2016: Brexit could turn Irish border into new Calais, says EU commissioner
09.05.2016: EU referendum: Cameron warns UK exit could put peace at risk
09.05.2016: EU referendum: Europeans in Britain fear Brexit vote
09.05.2016: EU referendum: Second World War veterans come out against Brexit
08.05.2016: Brexit would hit house prices significantly, says George Osborne
05.05.2016: David Cameron and Boris Johnson take EU referendum fight to Countryfile
05.05.2016: Britain remaining in EU is 'better for the world', says Japanese prime minister
03.05.2016: EU referendum: Workers’ rights will be watered down if Britain leaves EU, claims TUC
03.05.2016: Alistair Darling: leaving EU could put £250bn of UK export trade at risk
02.05.2016: EU referendum: Parties come together to make environmental case for staying in Europe
02.05.2016: David Cameron says friendship with Boris Johnson damaged by Brexit
02.05.2016: EU is central to tackling climate change, says Ed Miliband
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Change of wording in the EU Referendum question
After the Electoral Commission raised questions about the validity of the EU referendum question, David Cameron as well as the Parliament, decided to change the question over fears of bias.
Before the question was changed to a “leave or remain” response option it was a “yes or no” question.
IN-Campaign:
http://www.theincampaign.co.uk/
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Supporting IN-Campaign:
http://www.britishinfluence.org/
http://www.europeanmainstream.org.uk/
http://www.conservativeeuropegroup.org.uk/
http://www.universitiesforeurope.com/Pages/Home.aspx#.Vheertowfcs
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OUT-Campaign:
http://www.voteleavetakecontrol.org/campaign
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Supporting OUT-Campaign:
http://businessforbritain.org/
http://campaignforanindependentbritain.org.uk/
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New poll finds strong support for Boris Johnson to take over as Tory party leader
All ‘Brexit’ polls are wrong – But some are more wrong than others
Poll of the week (YouGov, 5 March): narrow lead for the Remain camp
‘Brexit’ could put data sharing in jeopardy
Britain, Europe and the world: Rethinking the UK’s circle of influence
How might the effect of Brexit on Ireland and Northern Ireland be managed?
Yougov‘s Eurosceptic map of Britain
Revealed: Two thirds of British voters are Eurosceptics - but they aren’t convinced we should leave
EU Referendum poll tracker and odds
UK Polling Report |http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/category/europe
Latest opinion poll of polls - 10/06/16 - 18/06/16:
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The UK EU Referendum which is likely to take place in 2016, and no later than the end of 2017 is not the first ‘in-out’ – ‘stay-leave’ vote held in the United Kingdom. On 23 January 1975, Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced that a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Economic Community (EEC) would be held within six months.
Britain, under Prime Minister Edward Heath had joined the EEC in January 1973 when the Treaty of Rome was signed. Labour's general election manifesto of October 1974 committed Labour to allow people the opportunity to decide whether Britain should stay in the Common Market on renegotiated terms, or leave it entirely.
Disquiet runs like a fault line through British public opinion from Parliament to the pub, and so it is that Prime Minister David Cameron has embarked upon a second European referendum campaign asking almost exactly the same question and for precisely the same reasons as his predecessor Harold Wilson in 1975.
He wants to hold his party together sufficiently to be able to run his government effectively, just as Wilson did 40 years ago. The main difference between then and now is that the trouble came previously from radicals who were mostly on the left, while the government's problems today are principally the go-it-alone nationalists who are mostly on the political right.
In the early Seventies, Labour was split over Europe. The parliamentary party was overwhelmingly in favour of Britain’s membership of the Common Market, but much of the rank and file wanted out. The prime minister announced that the government had decided to recommend a "yes" vote. But it emerged that the cabinet had split, with seven of its 23 members seeking withdrawal.
British voters have backed the UK's continued membership of the EEC by a large majority in the country's first nationwide referendum. Just over 67% of voters supported the Labour government's campaign to stay in the EEC, or Common Market, despite several cabinet ministers having come out in favour of British withdrawal.
Reconstructed Government Pamphlet advocating a vote to stay in the EEC
Seven lessons from Britain's EEC Referendum 1975
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The Brexit Briefs: Our Guide to the Britain's EU Referendum (The Economist)
EU referendum: HM Treasury analysis keyfacts
Brexit could derail US recovery
Domestic measures to safeguard national sovereignty: what options does the UK have?
The UK’S EU Referendum - What can the EU do to prevent a Brexit?
Brexit: What would happen if Britain voted to leave?
Is the UK a winner or loser in the EU Council?
Choosing our Future: Why the European Union is good for Business but how it should be better
Comprehensive opinion survey finds British voters deeply divided over EU membership
Open Europe poses ten questions for the EU referendum Remain and Leave campaigns
Arguments for an against EU Referendums
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Meet the sherpas: the key people quietly negotiating UK-EU reforms
Who's who in Britain's referendum?
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‘A compromise too far’: Iain Duncan Smith’s resignation letter in full
Boris Johnson joins campaign to leave EU
EU Referendum gives Liberals a chance to unite
Lord Lawson to lead Conservative campaign to leave EU
Nigel Farage could consider quitting Ukip to lead Britain out of Europe, says major Ukip donor
Pro-EU group hires top digital experts of Tories
Jeremy Corbyn: Labour will campaign for UK to stay in the EU
Nick Clegg sets up 'Open Reason' company as he eyes greater role in EU referendum
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EU referendum timeline: What will happen when?
What would happen if Britain left the EU?
What if...? The Consequences, challenges & opportunities facing Britain outside EU
Staying in reformed EU would boost British economy and jobs, report says
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The BBC's EU Referendum "Great Debate" - Questions on immigration, the economy & sovereignty
EU Referendum Debate - ITV: Boris Johnson, Gisela Stuart & Andrea Leadson vs Nicola Sturgeon, Amber Rudd & Angela Eagle
EU Referendum Debate - ITV: David Cameron & Nigel Farage