The only thing that the Leave campaign say when confronted with the massed opinions of the economic establishment, political leaders, international bodies, trade unions, NHS leaders and just about everybody else is that their opinions are simply wrong or that they are indulging in “scaremongering” – if so, it is the best and most highly organised conspiracy in the history of man. Yet, such is the dislike/distrust of the EU that the referendum outcome remains too close to call.
One thing that economist have warned about is that uncertainty over a potential Brexit will inhibit investment in the UK and that stock markets will fall. Equally, the uncertainty will put pressure on Sterling – according to Bloomberg, a Brexit could send the Pound to a low not seen for 30 years against the US Dollar. Clearly, all this is just more scaremongering, except that the Euro has risen to a fresh high of 79.8p against Sterling. Sterling has not been as weak against the Euro since early April, having started the year with a Euro buying £0.735. Equally, Sterling has lost ground against the Greenback, falling from £1 buying $1.478 in January to $1.416 currently. The FTSE has fallen back to levels not seen since March when the world’s markets were trying to factor in the slowing of the Chinese economy and a weak oil price.
The Leave campaign is promising that EU grants and subsidies will be maintained (presumably by the UK government) at current levels until 2020. The promise has been described as “sheer fantasy” by the Remain campaign who point out that their opponents have already committed more than ten times the sum that they claim the UK pays to the EU.
A letter from leading Leave campaigners claims: "It is therefore clear that there is more than enough money to ensure that those who now get funding from the EU - including universities, scientists, family farmers, regional funds, cultural organisations and others - will continue to do so while also ensuring that we save money that can be spent on our priorities."
Separately, their campaign has called for approximately a third (£100 million) of the money that they say the UK pays to the EU per week to be invested into the NHS. They are still unable to say what relationship they wish to see with the single market, post Brexit, and how they could push through dozens of trade deals before the UK was out in the cold. They fail to even consider the fact that such trade deals could be tilted to favour Britain’s trading partners and that the UK will be totally out of leverage on the periphery of Europe.