A major new poll has revealed that three quarters of Wales’ senior business people would vote to stay in the European Union (EU), but they have cast a damning judgement on the quality of debate.
The poll, which was conducted by the South and Mid Wales Chambers of Commerce, showed that 75% of Welsh business people would vote to remain in the EU if an in / out referendum was held tomorrow, believing that the UK’s withdrawal would have a negative impact on the economy in Wales.
Thirty-nine percent of business people reported that withdrawing from the EU would negatively impact their growth strategy, almost a third (31%) stated that it would negatively impact their import and supply chain strategy and 30% said it would negatively impact on their export and international sales strategy.
Since the government announced that it would hold an in / out referendum, nine in every 10 businesses stated that they had not yet been affected. However, what impact there has been is negative with 8% saying that orders and sales have been negatively affected and 10% reporting that total costs have been negatively affected.
The poll also found that the majority of respondents (61%) believed that the quality of the debate was poor and 14% believe it has been dismal. No one reported that the debate had been excellent.
Commenting on the findings, Keith Palmer, CEO of the South and Mid Wales Chambers of Commerce said: “When the government announced that it would hold this referendum there were calls for it to be a quick vote as the campaign would have an impact on the economy. This does not seem to have borne in Wales, so far at least.
“With significantly more businesses expecting to be affected if Britain leaves the EU it’s not surprising that such a large proportion of business people intend to vote to stay.
“The big news from the survey, however, is the number of respondents who have, thus far, found the quality of the debate to be poor or dismal. With such a crucial decision looming about the UK’s future, this is a condemnation of politicians on both sides of the argument. They, and the media, need to step up to the mark to ensure that the people of Wales, and the rest of the UK, are armed with all right information so that they are able to make an informed decision about whether or not they want to vote for Britain to stay or leave the European Union.”