UK pro-European Union camp leads in latest poll

The “in” camp is ahead by a 12-point lead ahead of a referendum on whether Britain should stay in or withdraw from the European Union, but the gap has narrowed, according to the latest opinion poll.

Support for staying in stood at 51 per cent, while 39 per cent wanted a so-called “Brexit” and 10 per cent were undecided, according to the ComRes poll for the Daily Mail.

Comres said the “remain” lead over “leave” had narrowed by six points since its last poll for the same newspaper in January, but was in line with a poll it conducted for ITV, released last week.

It said this provided further evidence that the process of renegotiation of Britain’s terms of EU membership, which culminated in a deal clinched by Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday, had dented the “in” camp’s lead.

A separate poll, conducted by YouGov for the Times newspaper, found both sides were neck and neck ahead of the June 23 referendum, with 37 per cent wanting Britain to stay in, 38 per cent wanting to leave and 25 per cent undecided.

Britain’s deal with the EU on new membership terms could be undone by the European Court of Justice despite support from all member states, justice secretary Michael Gove — a leading member of the “leave” campaign — told the BBC.

“The facts are that the European Court of Justice is not bound by this agreement until treaties are changed and we don’t know when that will be,” Mr Gove said.

Mr Cameron’s Downing Street office rejected the argument, saying the deal was an irreversible decision in international law that required the European court to take it into account.

Attorney-General Jeremy Wright also said Mr Gove’s suggestion was not correct.

“It has legal effect from the point the UK says it intends to remain in the EU, and the European Court must take it into account,” Mr Wright said in a statement.

Thirteen former senior military officers insisted the UK should stay in the EU, saying the country was stronger as a member of the bloc in a “dangerous world”.