The Financial Express (Delhi Edition)
Britons face ‘existential choice’ on Thursday: David Cameron
Britain’s rival EU campaigns restart as polls show momentum for ‘In’
CALL FOR ‘EUNITY’:
THE campaign to decide Britain’s membership of the European Union restarted on Sunday after a three-day hiatus following the killing of lawmaker Jo Cox, with Prime Minister David Cameron warning that Britons faced an “existential choice” on Thursday.
Campaigning activities ahead of the June 23 EU referendum resumed as two opinion polls showed the ‘Remain’ camp recovering some momentum, although the overall picture remains one of an evenly split electorate.
With five days left until Britons cast their ballots, the rival campaigns returned with a raft of interviews and articles in Sunday’s newspapers, covering the familiar immigration versus economy debate that has defined the campaign so far.
Cameron, who leads the campaign to stay in the EU, urged voters to consider the economic impact that leaving the 28-member bloc would have.
“We face an existential choice on Thursday,” he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph. “So ask yourself: have I really heard anything - anything at all - to convince me that leaving would be the best thing for the economic security of my family?” Michael Gove, a senior spokesman for the rival ‘Leave’ campaign, played down the role of the referendum in the future of the economy, and said that leaving would actually improve Britain’s economic position.
“I can’t foretell the future but I don’t believe that the act of leaving the European Union would make our economic position worse, I think it would make it better,” he said in an interview with the same newspaper.
Both men praised Labour Party lawmaker Cox, an ardent supporter of EU membership, who was shot and stabbed in the street in her electoral district in norther n England on Thursday.
The murder of Cox, a 41year-old mother of two young children, has shocked Britain, elicited condolences from leaders around the world and raised questions about the tone of campaigning. A 52-year-old man appeared in a London magistrate’s court on Saturday, charged with her murder.
Two opinion polls published on Saturday showed the ‘Remain’ campaign had regained its lead over ‘Leave’, while a third showed momentum shifting in favour of a vote to stay in.
“We are now in the final week of the referendum campaign and the swing back towards the status quo appears to be in full force,” Anthony Wells, a director with polling firm YouGov, said. A YouGov poll for the Sunday Times newspaper showed support for Britain staying in the EU had restored a narrow 4443%lead to ‘In’ over the “Out” campaign. Reuters London, June 19: A ‘clash of curries’ has emerged as one of the central themes in this week’s ‘Brexit’ referendum in the UK with restaurateurs arguing that free movement of people from Europe hampers the £4-billion industry’s ability to bring in chefs from the Indian sub-continent.
Ahead of the vote on Thursday, a group of South Asian restaurateurs have made a common cause with Indian-origin minister Priti Patel to call for Britain’s exit from the 28-member European Union, saying the move will help Britain’s curry industry which is struggling with staff shortage.
The Bangladesh Caterers Association (BCA) has called for a ‘Brexit’ to “save Britain’s curry industry’, arguing that free movement of people from Europe hampers the industry’s ability to bring in trained chefs from the Indian sub-continent.
“Curry is our national dish but unfortunately four to five curry houses are closing every week. There is a clear double standard in the immigration policy, where we are unable to bring in skilled chefs but thousands are free to come in from Europe,” said Pasha Khandekar, president of the BCA, which represents around 12,000 restaurants and takeaways up and down the UK with their roots in the subcontinent. However, on the opposing end is the UK’s Asian Catering Federation (ACF) which has been backing the campaign for
Britain to remain in the EU, while continuing to lobby the government on staff shortages within the curry industry. The ACF, which represents a wider network of around 20,000 restaurants by working alongside the Federation of Bangladeshi Caterers UK, the Chinese Takeaway Association UK and the Malaysian Restaurant Association, believes Brexit is not the answer to Britain’s curry woes.
“The ACF recognises the contribution of EU members, especially those from Eastern Europe, who are prepared to undertake demanding work and anti-social hours associated with the hospitality industry,” it said in a statement.
ACF president Yawar Khan has also written to BritishPrimeMinisterDavid Cameron to further discuss theproblemsfacedbythecurry industry but has meanwhile asked its members to vote to remain in the EU. PTI