A measured debate?

FOR all their entreaties to Brexit supporters to tone down the rhetoric in the EU referendum debate following the appalling and utterly senseless killing of MP Jo Cox, it was the Remain campaigners who resumed hostilities with a vengeance yesterday.

Within hours of the truce inspired by the murder expiring, Chancellor George Osborne was on the TV sofas likening a Ukip poster highlighting the problems caused by immigration to Nazi propaganda.

And then there was Mr Osborne’s fellow Remain campaigner Alastair Campbell – who had urged both sides to do ‘less shouting and more thinking’ in the wake of Jo Cox’s death – ranting on about ‘the nasty Brexit Lie Machine’.

This from the man who, as Tony Blair’s chief spin doctor, did more than anyone in recent times to poison the wells of civilised political debate, with his negative briefings, disinformation and sneering bully-boy tactics.

Scottish Nationalist attempts to round on the Out campaign backfired quickly. There were accusations of hypocrisy when one Nationalist MP tried to bemoan nastiness on social media.

The public quickly pointed out that Nationalist bile was a hallmark of the independence campaign in which senior party figures followed and interacted with some of the vilest abusers on Twitter.

Is this the Remain campaign’s idea of measured debate – to tar those who support the Leave campaign or are worried about unfettered migration as racists and liars? How troubling it would be if the killing of Mrs Cox – by unanimous consent a woman who championed democracy and community cohesion – should be used as an excuse to shut down debate on a subject that is of profound concern to millions of ordinary people.

Ironically, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was alone among Remain supporters yesterday in being prepared to address the issue calmly and honestly, admitting that free movement across the EU means there can never be an upper limit on net migration into Britain. The Mail congratulates him on his candour.

As we have said many times, the decision British voters make on Thursday will shape our political destiny for a generation. Immigration remains absolutely central to that decision and is simply too important to be swept under the carpet.