Portsmouth, UK: The ‘Leave’ campaign that aims to take Britain out of the European Union is stumbling at a critical juncture, with British voters heading to the polls on Thursday.
The murder of a pro-European MP by a deranged Brexit supporter last Thursday, the unveiling of a distasteful anti-immigration campaign by the United Kingdom’s Independence Party and a significant downward shift in polling couldn’t be happening at a worse time for the ‘Leave’ side.
And yesterday, a leading ‘Leave’ supporter and co-chair of the ruling Conservative Party, said she was switching sides because of the “lies, hate and xenophobia” being spread by the Brexit proponents.
Lady Sayeeda Warsi, a former minister in David Cameron’s cabinet, said the ‘Leave’ side were purposely fearmongering over millions of Muslims moving to Britain once Turkey has access to the European Union.
As part of a deal to end the greatest refugee crisis in Europe since the end of the Second World War, EU leaders agreed to fast-track Turkey’s long-stalled bid to join the 28-member bloc. The ‘Leave’ side says once that happens, a wave of Muslim immigrants will swamp Britain.
“Are we prepared to tell lies, to spread hate and xenophobia just to win a campaign?” asked the British-Pakistani lawyer in defecting. “For me, that’s a step too far.”
She said she didn’t want to people who are running the ‘Leave’ campaign – former London Mayor and cabinet minister Boris Johnson – to be running the country if there’s a ‘Leave’ win.
With Cameron having called the campaign, should the ‘Remain’ side lose, his position as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservatives would be politically untenable. That scenario would leave Johnson as the likely successor to 10 Downing Street.
“I don’t want the messages coming out of that [‘Remain’] camp to form the basis of the kind of Britain that I want to live in and bring my kids up in,” Warsi said.
Given her profile in Britain’s large population base with ties to Pakistan, her defection and comments are a body blow in the final run-in to Thursday’s decisive – and divisive – referendum.
Turkey’s membership of the EU was a touching stone during a televised debate on Sunday night, with Cameron calling the issue “the biggest red herring of the campaign.”
“I don’t think it is going to happen in decades,” he said when asked if he would veto Turkey’s membership bid.
The return of support to the ‘Remain’ side after a week where the ‘Leave’ side seemed to have the momentum had an immediate effect on the markets, commodities and currency. The pound, which had been in decline for 10 days, was up 2 per cent against major currencies when trading resumed in the City of London on Monday morning. The FTSE also bounced by a similar amount on the change in polling numbers. Oil too rose, with Brent up 90 cents to trade above $50 (Dh183) a barrel.
