Final day of Brexit campaign as polls remain neck and neck
June 22, 2016
Top leaders in both the "Leave" and "Remain" camps were crisscrossing the UK on Wednesday as polls ahead of the EU referendum remained close. The final push to capture the country's undecided voters will see rival rallies take place within hours of each other in different parts of London.
"Nobody knows what is going to happen," said Prime Minister David Cameron to the Financial Times, one of a series of last-minute interviews in the run-up to Thursday's vote. "I believe it will one way or another be decisive. Britain will not want to go through this again."
Cameron has supported the pro-EU side, which according to the latest estimates had the narrowest possible lead at 51 percent.
Final debate draws huge crowd
Both sides had a chance to present their final arguments in a televised debate on Tuesday evening, which featured current London mayor Sadiq Khan facing off against his predecessor Boris Johnson, who has been one of the loudest voices on the "Leave" campaign.
"You're telling lies and you're scaring people," said Khan in front of the 12,500-seat Wembley Arena. Khan was referencing a leaflet from the "Leave" campaign suggesting EU ascension for Turkey was just around the corner.
"That's scaremongering, Boris, and you should be ashamed... you are using the ruse of Turkey to scare people to vote Leave," said Khan, prompting cheers from the audience.
Johnson for his part relied on the argument that Britain is a sovereign nation that shouldn't take instruction from European bureaucrats.
"They say we have no choice but to bow down to Brussels. We say they are woefully underestimating this country and what it can do," Johnson said.
"If we vote to leave and take control, I believe that this Thursday could be our country's independence day," he added, eliciting a standing ovation.
But with the campaign focusing mainly on economic issues and worries about migration, Khan accused the "Leave" side of stirring up hate against immigrants.
London's mayor said that UK voters now face the "most important decision for a generation," urging them to take the "a positive, patriotic choice to remain in the EU."
es/kms (AFP, dpa)