Now minister warns: Brexit could wreck your children’s lives
VOTING for Brexit is gambling with the prospects of the next generation, a Cabinet minister warns today.
In a speech likely to trigger fresh claims of scaremongering, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan will warn older voters they risk creating a lost generation of young people.
She will say it would be unfair for parents and grandparents to vote to leave the EU because of the ‘devastating’ impact on the chances of their children and grandchildren.
And she will appeal to the young to turn out and vote because it will help tackle ‘global ills’ such as climate change.
But as well as raising accusations of desperate scaremongering by Downing Street, her comments may also risk alienating older voters by suggesting their views on the future of the country are less important than those of people younger than them.
Hers is the latest dire warning issued by senior ministers loyal to Downing Street in what Brexit campaigners say is a ramping up of ‘Project Fear’.
In recent days a string of Cabinet ministers have been wheeled out to make doom-mongering predictions about the risks of Brexit.
On Sunday Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned it could damage the NHS. Last week Energy Secretary Amber Rudd said Brexit could lead to an ‘electric shock’ of higher energy bills.
The appeal to those with all their working lives ahead of them may also suggest the extent to which the Remain camp is concerned that younger people will not turn out to vote in the referendum on June 23.
In a speech to the British Fashion Retail Academy in London, Mrs Morgan will argue a vote for Brexit could put young people’s future at risk. It would be young people who will pay the price if there is an economic shock from Brexit, she will say, because firms are likely to cut back on entry level jobs.
‘It’s clear that if Britain leaves Europe it will be young people who suffer the most, left in limbo while we struggle to find and then negotiate an alternative model.
‘In doing so we risk that lost generation becoming a reality. And everyone who casts their vote must understand that. If parents and grandparents vote to leave, they’ll be voting to gamble with their children and grandchildren’s future.
‘At a time when people are rightly concerned about intergenerational fairness, the most unfair decision that the older generation could make would be to take Britain out of Europe and damage the ability of young people to get on in life.’
By contrast, staying in the EU will help tackle the global issues young people care about such as sexual and gender equality, poverty, the environment and climate change, she will say.
‘I want young people to make sure their voices are heard in this debate – whichever side of the debate they might be on – otherwise they risk having the decision made by other people, their future decided for them, not by them. Elections are decided by the people who turn up.’