British Prime Minister David Cameron made a dramatic last-minute appeal to voters on Tuesday to back staying in the European Union two days before a referendum that will shape the future of the West, as polls indicated the outcome was too close to call.
Britons vote on Thursday on whether to quit the 28-nation bloc amid warnings from world leaders, investors and companies that a decision to leave would diminish the former imperial power’s influence, unleash turmoil on markets and send shock waves around the Western world.
In a rare televised address outside his Downing Street office, Cameron repeated his message that leaving the EU would jeopardize Britain’s economy and its national security, with fewer jobs, fewer allies and higher prices.
“Brits don’t quit,” he said, using the official backdrop to make a direct pitch to older voters considered more euroskeptic and more likely to vote.
“It will just be you in that polling booth. Just you, taking a decision that will affect your future, your children’s future, your grandchildren’s future.”
The Conservative prime minister’s intervention, which was billed as a significant statement but not publicized in advance, came as an opinion poll showed support for remaining in the EU shrinking. The Survation poll put the “In” camp just one percentage point ahead of the campaign for a so-called Brexit, well within the margin of error.
Commentators said the hastily arranged appearance suggested Cameron, who promised the referendum in 2013 under pressure from lawmakers in his Conservative Party, and the “In” campaign were very worried about the outcome.
“Cameron is panicked, it’s out of his hands now,” Arron Banks, a multi-millionaire insurance tycoon who is funding one of the Leave campaigns, said on Twitter.
Raoul Ruparel, co-director of Open Europe, a think-tank, said Cameron wanted to project a solemn, statesmanlike image.
“Because it was called off the cuff it looks panicked, but all people will see from the news are the clips which show him looking very measured and relaxed,” Ruparel told Reuters.
As each side sought to play its last trump cards, the pro-EU “Britain Stronger in Europe” campaign issued a final poster of a door leading into a dark void with the slogan: “Leave and there’s no going back.”
Former England soccer captain David Beckham, a hugely popular public figure, added his voice to Remain’s list of celebrity supporters. “For our children and their children we should be facing the problems of the world together and not alone,” he said.
Leave campaigners stepped up their relentless focus on what they call uncontrolled immigration, saying Cameron had been warned four years ago his goal of reducing net arrivals was impossible due to EU rules.
The anti-EU UK Independence Party issued a poster showing a traffic jam with the message “The school over-run” and saying nearly one in four of Britain’s primary schools were full or oversubscribed.
