DAVID Cameron has ditched plans to ask voters a Yes/No question on whether or not Britain should continue its membership of the European Union after the elections watchdog suggested such a question could be deemed as “biased”.
However, a rejigged question recommended by the Electoral Commission, and accepted unquestioningly by the Prime Minister, raises questions about the Yes/No question asked last year of Scottish voters about whether or not Scotland should become independent.
Initially, Alex Salmond, the then First Minister, sought to put a question to Scots that asked “do you agree that Scotland should become an independent country?”
This question had to be changed on the advice of the Commission, which raised concerns that it could have led people into voting Yes. In the end, voters were asked the Yes/No question “should Scotland be an independent country?”
The Commission was asked why a Yes/No was deemed acceptable for the Scottish referendum but not so for the EU referendum.
A spokeswoman explained that the perceived bias was contained within the question itself ie "should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union?"
A public consultation showed that while the original question was easy to understand, the two main reasons why people viewed it “as biased” were because it only set out the ‘remain’ option and that the Yes response was to preserve the status quo.
The spokeswoman added: “That was not something that was contained in the Scottish referendum question.”
The Commission tested alternative questions and recommended that what should be asked in the EU referendum should be: "should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?"
The responses would, therefore, be "remain a member of the European Union" or "leave the European Union".
No 10 said the UK Government would accept the Commission's recommendation and table an amendment to the EU Referendum Bill accordingly.
"The Prime Minister's objective has always been clear; to give people a very clear and simple choice. That will still be achieved with the recommendation from the Electoral Commission today," said Mr Cameron’s spokeswoman.
Stephen Gethins, the SNP’s spokesman on Europe, welcomed the PM’s decision and said the EU referendum, due to take place before December 2017, should follow the “gold standard” set by last year’s Scottish independence vote.
Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, also welcomed the proposed change. "I'm in no doubt that the Yes/No offering was leading to great confusion and that remain or leave is much clearer. That combined with a more explicit question is the right direction of travel," he said.
MPs will debate the Bill when they return from their summer recess on Monday.
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