(MENAFN- Gulf Times) A majority of Britons now favour leaving the European Union amid concerns over immigration, an opinion poll showed, signalling a shift in views ahead of a referendum on Britain's membership of the bloc.
The survey, by polling firm Survation for the Mail on Sunday newspaper, found 51% of respondents wanted to leave the EU and 49% wanted to remain, excluding undecided voters.
While the results are within the poll's margin of error and represent a statistical tie, the previous comparable poll, carried out in late June and early July, had found support for staying in the EU at 54% while 45% wanted the country out of the 28-nation bloc.
Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to renegotiate Britain's EU ties ahead of the referendum which is due to take place before 2017.
But the anti-EU UK Independence Party says the government cannot address the freedom of workers from within the EU to come to Britain under one of the bloc's core principles.
Survation said the Mail on Sunday poll was the first time it had found a lead for the "out" campaign since November 2014.
The survey results will also provide a huge fillip for the 'out' campaign ahead of a possible Commons rebellion by Eurosceptic Tories when MPs return to Westminster following the summer break today.
The Mail has linked the shock result to the migrant crisis and a change in the referendum question, which is supposed to make it more neutral.
More than a fifth of those who favoured staying in the EU said they might change their minds if the migrant crisis worsened.
Public outrage at images of drowned three-year-old refugee Aylan Kurdi washed up on a Turkish beach appeared to have increased sympathy for Syrians.
But 29% of people surveyed said the UK should accept no refugees from the war-ravaged country. A total of 15% € the next highest proportion - backed Yvette Cooper's calls on the government to let in 10,000.
The government accepted an Electoral Commission recommendation to change the referendum question from a straight 'Yes/No' to a choice of 'remain a member of the Europe Union' or 'leave the European Union'.
The 'in' camp has been consistently ahead in 10 polls since May.
In 2000, at the height of Tony Blair's premiership, one survey put support for staying in the EU at 62%.
The latest online poll was conducted on September 3 and 4 and heard the opinions of 1,004 adults, a smaller sample size than the previous poll.
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