Leave campaign is ‘in denial’ over risks to economy, warns Carney

BREXIT campaigners are “in denial” about the economic and financial risk of the UK leaving the European Union, Mark Carney has said.

The Governor of the Bank of England strongly defended his warning that a vote to leave the EU could tip the country into recession. He insisted he was not entering into the wider referendum debate but said the Bank had a duty to explain its thinking and potential risks to the economy.

He told The Andrew Marr Show that there was a “difference between denial and transparency” between the Remain and Leave campaigns. The comments were immediately seized on by George Osborne, the Chancellor, who wrote on Twitter that he agreed with Mr Carney adding: “Those telling voters EU exit will have no impact on economy are in denial.”

Mr Carney said he had “a responsibility to explain risk and then take steps, because by explaining what we would do to mitigate them we reduce them”.

However Andrea Leadsom, the pro-Brexit energy minister, said his comments risked creating the financial instability it was supposed to prevent.

She accused Mr Carney of “provoking financial instability” by warning that the risks of leaving “could possibly include a technical recession”.

She said: “It was an incredibly dangerous intervention. The core job of the Bank of England is to ensure financial stability. That’s it.”

In recent days Conservative MPs including Jacob Rees-Mogg have called on Mr Carney to resign over his pro-Remain intervention.