article: David Cameron is thought to favour a question along these lines for the referendum on the UK's European Union membership. The prime minister is said to believe this would allow those who want Britain to remain in the EU to style themselves as the Yes campaign. "It is the Bob the Builder philosophy," says Matt Qvortrup, professor of applied political science at Coventry University. The referendum question must: "It is the 'Yes we can' mood that was used by Obama. It is an attempt to be the positive campaign because nobody likes to be seen as negative." Maybe the government has learnt lessons from last year's Scottish independence referendum, where the Yes campaign was widely acknowledged to be the more positive one. "It was all about taking a chance, let's do this. It was about hope and possibility," Prof Qvortrup says. Former SNP leader Alex Salmond, who led the Scottish independence campaign, told BBC Newsnight last week: "You certainly should not fool about with the question. It should be straightforward and honest. But the Yes side is important. "If you want to embrace a positive vision of staying in Europe you want to be Yes." In 1975 when Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson held the last referendum on the UK in Europe, one of his slogans was 'Say No to the No men'. Prof Qvortrup says Wilson ran his campaign as a vote for Yes and characterised No voters as grumpy naysayers like Tony Benn and Enoch Powell. Maybe UKIP leader Nigel Farage will be able to persuade people that his campaign to leave the EU is about a new dawn and a fresh start for the UK, but he will be fighting against the negative implications of a No campaign. In the run-up to last year's Scottish independence referendum both sides agreed that the Electoral Commission should scrutinise the SNP government's preferred "yes/no" question: "Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?" The elections watchdog tweaked those words and reported that the question should be: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" The commission said the question must be presented clearly, simply and neutrally. The Scottish government agreed to changing the question when the commission reported its findings. The question thought to be favoured by Mr Cameron does not use the word "agree", which is very common in referendums worldwide, according to Prof Qvortrup. The possible wording is very similar to that used by Mr Wilson in 1975, which was: "Do you think the UK should stay in the European Community (Common Market)?" Prof Qvortrup says one advantage of asking: "Should the UK remain a member of the EU?" is that the question is short. Voters tend to become more sceptical about a proposition if the question is too long, they suspect they are "having the wool pulled over their eyes", he says. According to Prof Qvortrup, there is one lesson the prime minister can learn from Mr Wilson's 1975 campaign that would have a far greater impact on the result than the question. "If you have a referendum soon
summary: "Should the UK remain a member of the EU?"