The wisdom of Eurosceptic crowds

How much does public opinion on Europe matter? A poll for today’s Sunday Times found that 41 per cent want out of the EU and on the BBC1 Politics Show today, Jon Sopel confronted Douglas Alexander with this statistic. Wee Dougie replied that, on Monday’s vote, he was in the “no” lobby with the leaders of all British political parties – so of course he was in the mainstream. This raises a crucial issue: the vast disconnect over Europe between the political elite and the masses.

To declare my hand: I’m in favour of our EU membership and regard the free movement of people, goods and services as a noble endeavour (albeit one which the EU has yet to live up to). But I’m in the minority. The European Commission’s own polling makes the British public’s position devastatingly clear (summary here). It shows that just 26 per cent view our EU membership as a good thing.