{"id":77678,"date":"2016-06-22T09:05:35","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T13:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=77678"},"modified":"2016-06-22T09:05:35","modified_gmt":"2016-06-22T13:05:35","slug":"politicians-make-final-appeals-eu-vote-campaigning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/06\/22\/politicians-make-final-appeals-eu-vote-campaigning\/","title":{"rendered":"Politicians make final appeals in EU vote campaigning"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"European<\/a>
European Union (ShutterStock image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LONDON \u2013 Campaigners on both sides of the crucial vote on whether or not Britain should remain in the European Union crisscrossed the country Wednesday, their last day to win support from the undecided.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister David Cameron outlined his vision for a future with Britain retaining its place in the 28-nation bloc, bristling at the notion that the country would be headed in the wrong direction if it stayed in. He flatly rejected the charge that the institution is moribund.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not shackled to a corpse,\u201d Cameron told the BBC. \u201cYou can see the European economy\u2019s recovery. It\u2019s the largest single market in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most notable figure in the \u201cleave\u201d campaign, former London Mayor Boris Johnson, kicked off a whirlwind tour of England as he pushed for a British exit \u2013 or Brexit. Touring the Billingsgate Fish Market, Johnson mugged for the cameras with fish in hand \u2013 a not-so-subtle reminder that this is an island nation \u2013 and one very proud of its independence and self-assurance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time to have a totally new relationship with our friends and partners across the Channel,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cIt\u2019s time to speak up for democracy, and hundreds of millions of people around Europe agree with us. It\u2019s time to break away from the failing and dysfunctional EU system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Britain goes to the polls Thursday after a campaign that has been both heated and complicated. The reach of the EU into every aspect of life has meant that all sorts of groups \u2013 from scientists to CEOs \u2013 have registered opinions on whether to stay or go.<\/p>\n

The stakes are high as the vote is final \u2013 unlike an election in which the results can be reversed in the next term. However, the vote is not legally binding, and Parliament would have to vote to repeal the law that brought Britain into the EU in the first place.<\/p>\n

A vote to leave would invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, which allows a member state to withdraw. The article has never been invoked and it would trigger a period of uncertainty during years of negotiations on the relationship between the EU and the U.K.<\/p>\n

Much of the debate has hinged on the economy. From the international banks in the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf to the traditional home of Britain\u2019s financial industry in the City of London, business has largely awaited the referendum with trepidation and caution. Many fear a vote to leave would undermine London\u2019s position as the world\u2019s pre-eminent financial center and damage an industry that underpins the British economy.<\/p>\n

Leaders of about half of Britain\u2019s largest companies made a last-ditch appeal to their employees to vote for remaining in the European Union.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the Times on the eve of Thursday\u2019s vote, some 1,285 business leaders \u2013 include representatives of half of the FTSE 100 businesses \u2013 argue that a vote to leave will hurt the British economy.<\/p>\n

Similar letters have been released in the course of the acrimonious campaign. But Wednesday\u2019s letter is clearly meant to make the 1.75 million people employed by the signatories think twice about their vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cBritain leaving the EU would mean uncertainty for our firms, less trade with Europe and fewer jobs,\u201d the letter said. \u201cBritain remaining in the EU would mean the opposite: more certainty, more trade and more jobs. EU membership is good for business and good for British jobs. That\u2019s why, on June 23, we back Britain remaining in the EU.\u201d<\/p>\n

The companies represented include Barclays, Standard Life and Anglo-American.<\/p>\n

Stock markets and the pound continued to rise, indicating that investors think the \u201cremain\u201d side will win. Markets are likely to be jittery, however, as the vote is expected to be tight and a vote to leave would create huge uncertainty. U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen warned Tuesday that the upcoming vote \u201ccould have significant economic repercussions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, also said the consequences of a vote to leave would be difficult to assess.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis lack of precision from two of the most eminent central bankers in the world with respect to the global consequences of a vote to exit was a refreshing outbreak of honesty in contrast to the very precise warnings that the U.K. public has been bombarded with,\u201d said Michael Hewson, the chief market analyst of CMC markets, citing warnings from the International Monetary Fund, the Bank of England and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development \u2013 all of which signaled dire consequences if the country were to exit.<\/p>\n

The betting markets solidly stood by the \u201cremain\u201d side. The Betfair exchange said remain is now at 76 percent probability. Some 80 percent of the 1 million pounds placed during and after a BBC debate on Tuesday was on \u201cremain,\u201d the exchange said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONDON \u2013 Campaigners on both sides of the crucial vote on whether or not Britain should remain in the European …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":9620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[918,621,3103],"class_list":["post-77678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","tag-britain","tag-eu","tag-european-union","mauthors-danica-kirka","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}