Ex-Bank chief blasts ‘insulting’ campaign

BOTH sides of the EU debate are ‘insulting the intelligence of voters’, the former governor of the Bank of England has said.

But Mervyn King added that while both Remain and Leave were making ‘wildly exaggerated claims’, the Government must take responsibility for the overall tone of the campaign.

Speaking at the Hay literary festival in Wales, Lord King said: ‘I’ve been very struck as I go round the country that people don’t come up and ask me, “Should I vote to stay in or to leave?”, they seem to say, “I want to make up my own mind but I can’t find the arguments or the facts to do it”.

‘I have been deeply disappointed, to put it mildly, at the tone of this whole referendum. The word “debate” is not justified. Both sides have been engaged in a public relations campaign which insults the intelligence of the voters by making wildly exaggerated claims.’