British PM issues Brexit warning in razor-tight race

Workers erect scaffolding for television studios outside the Houses of Parliament in London ahead of the EU referendum. (Photo: AFP/Justin Tallis)

LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron pleaded with Britons on Tuesday (Jun 21) to think of their children and their economic well-being before voting to quit the EU, as polls showed a razor-tight race less than 48 hours ahead of the referendum.

Cameron warned that future generations would be left a damaged, diminished economy if Britain became the first state to defect from the EU in the bloc's 60-year history.

On the same day, financier George Soros predicted a Black Friday plunge in sterling if Britain, the world's fifth-biggest economy, votes to go its own way. The prospect of a Brexit has raised fears of a domino-effect collapse of the European project.

"Do think about the hopes and dreams of your children and your grandchildren," Cameron urged, clearly targeting older voters judged most likely to oppose continued EU membership. "If we vote out, that is it. It is irreversible. We will leave Europe for good and the next generation will have to live with the consequences."

Leaving, however, would weaken the economy, the prime minister predicted. "That is a huge risk to Britain, to British families, to British jobs," he said.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said he believed "British pragmatism" would mean a defeat for Brexit and has warned the country against "an act of self-harm" that would endanger everything Europeans had worked together to achieve.

Soros, who made a fortune by betting against the pound in the so-called Black Wednesday of September 1992, said rejecting the EU would deliver a financial shock.

"Sterling is almost certain to fall steeply and quickly if 'Leave' wins the referendum," Soros wrote in The Guardian newspaper, predicting a devaluation of more than 15 per cent. "A vote to leave could see the week end with a Black Friday, and serious consequences for ordinary people."

'UNEMPLOYMENT CREATING DISASTER'

But Brexit campaigners dismissed Soros' remarks, saying he had also backed the creation of the euro.

"As we have seen, the euro has been a job-destroying, unemployment-creating disaster," said the British justice minister, Michael Gove.

With uncertainty swirling about the referendum's outcome, the world's leading central banks have consulted about the potential impact, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said in Brussels.

"We want to be prepared for all possibilities. Mostly, as far as we are concerned, it would be to be able to stabilise markets," Draghi said, adding, however, that it was "very difficult" to foresee the financial and economic effects.

In Washington, US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said a Brexit vote would usher in "a period of uncertainty that is very hard to predict".

World financial markets, which rallied the previous day following opinion poll gains by the "Remain" camp, traded cautiously higher as new surveys showed a tight race.

The FTSE 100 index inched up just 0.4 per cent.

"It appears markets have made up their mind which way the referendum will go," said Jasper Lawler, market analyst at traders CMC Markets. "But before the result is known, there is still two-way risk," he said.

A poll by Survation gave "Remain" 45 per cent and "Leave" 44 per cent, with 11 per cent undecided.

The websites of six major bookmakers showed the odds heavily pointing to a "Remain" vote, with the chances of Britain staying in put at nearly 80 per cent.

The latest surveys were mostly conducted after the brutal murder of Jo Cox, a 41-year-old Labour lawmaker and mother of two, who was shot and stabbed in her northern English constituency on Thursday.

Her alleged killer, 52-year-old Thomas Mair, gave his name as "Death to traitors, freedom for Britain" at his first appearance in court after being charged with her murder.

'SUPERMARKET BILLS UP'

The campaign in Britain remains locked on two major concerns: the economy and high immigration.

Opinion polls consistently show just over 10 per cent of Britons have not made up their minds.

"I don't know. I think I will vote remain," said Ghansham Mulchandani, a 37-year-old information technology worker in the banking industry.

"I think it will have a huge impact on our sector if we choose to leave," he told AFP in central London. "All the big leaders are saying we should remain in Europe."

With time running out, thousands will gather later Tuesday in Wembley Arena for a debate between the two camps, featuring former London mayor Boris Johnson for "Leave" and his successor Sadiq Khan for "Remain".

British sports legends joined the fray, too.

"We live in a vibrant and connected world where together as a people we are strong," England football great David Beckham wrote on Facebook. "For these reasons I am voting to Remain."

English cricket legend Ian Botham advised people to leave the bloc, sounding the alarm on immigration. "Our beautiful countryside is what makes Britain the place it is and this island was not designed for 100 million people," he wrote in the Daily Express newspaper.