PM Cameron's ratings fall, both campaigns level ahead of EU referendum

[LONDON] Prime Minister David Cameron's ratings have fallen 8 percentage points as he battles to keep Britain in the European Union ahead of a June referendum, according to a YouGov poll for The Times newspaper on Thursday.

The survey showed that 39 per cent of voters backed Britain staying in the 28-member bloc level pegging with the support for withdrawal. Five per cent said they would not vote while 17 per cent were undecided, the online poll of 1,693 people carried out on April 11-12 found.

The previous YouGov survey, carried out a week ago, had the remain camp on 40 per cent and the leave campaign on 38 per cent.

The latest survey comes after a difficult week for Mr Cameron who has faced criticism and scrutiny of his personal wealth after he said he had profited from selling shares in an offshore fund set up by his father which had been revealed in the Panama Papers.

That led him to taking the unusual step of publishing a summary of his tax records for the past six years.

The YouGov poll found public trust in Mr Cameron, who is the effective head of the EU "In" campaign, had fallen 8 per centage points to 21 per cent since a comparable survey taken on Feb. 21-22 poll.

It showed trust in opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had risen 2 per centage points to 28 per cent. Corbyn is due to make his first major intervention in the argument over Britain's EU future later on Thursday when he will put his weight behind the "In" campaign.

However, trust in London Mayor Boris Johnson, the flamboyant, popular leading face of the "Out" campaign, has also fallen 8 percentage points to 26 per cent, the survey indicated.

The "Vote Leave" group, which is backed by Johnson, was on Wednesday chosen to be the official "Out" campaign ahead of a referendum on June 23.

REUTERS