‘We are about to make the biggest political decision of our lives. The Sun urges everyone to vote LEAVE. We must set ourselves free from dictatorial Brussels. Throughout our 43-year membership of the European Union it has proved increasingly greedy, wasteful, bullying and breathtakingly incompetent in a crisis. Next Thursday, at the ballot box, we can correct this huge and historic mistake. It is our last chance. Because, be in no doubt, our future looks far bleaker if we stay in.’ – The Sun Says (£)
>Today: Nick Timothy’s column: I’ve already voted Leave – but these wretched campaigns show everything that’s wrong with British politics
‘A clear majority of voters want Britain to quit the European Union, according to a poll for The Times that gives Brexit a seven-point lead. The YouGov survey puts Leave on 46 per cent, up three points since the end of last week. Remain is on 39 per cent, down three — giving Brexit its largest lead since the start of the campaign, the pollster found. Eleven per cent of people do not know how they will vote and 4 per cent plan to abstain.’ – The Times (£)
>Yesterday: EU referendum campaign diaries: Week 3) Shy Leavers emerge, as do Remain councillors, as the big decision approaches
‘Mass migration will ‘change the UK for ever’ if the country votes to stay in the European Union, with more than 7 million foreigners arriving in just 20 years. A damning report by a major think-tank predicted that runaway immigration would see Britain’s population – currently 64million – rise by 12.8 million to 76.8million in 2035, then to 80.2million in 2039. Some 60 per cent of the 7 million migrants will be from the EU, the paper forecasts. The remainder of the 12.8 million increase is due to domestic births and an ageing population.’ – Daily Mail
>Yesterday: Sunder Katwala on Comment: Many ethnic minority voters are natural Leave supporters – but there’s that thorny issue of trust
‘All of the EU legislation we have accepted since Tony Blair took us into the social chapter has been incorporated into UK law and will remain in place if we vote to leave. Any decision to simplify or change any of those laws would need voters’ consent. Our public holidays will also be protected and maternity and paternity leave will stay. The choice on June 23 is clear. If you think that British voters should decide British laws, vote Leave. If you think that we should always control our borders so that we protect the job prospects of British workers, vote Leave. There is nothing to be afraid of and everything to hope for.’- Gisela Stuart and Andrea Leadsom, The Times (£)
>Today: Mark Field on Comment: Brexiteers are selling a vision which is starry-eyed to the point of wanton irresponsibility
Labour’s divisions over immigration were laid bare yesterday as Ed Balls called for quotas on economic migrants and Gordon Brown insisted that it was illegal migration that posed the biggest problem. As the party increased its efforts to prevent traditional supporters “haemorrhaging” to the Brexit camp, Jeremy Corbyn will today try to deflect its focus on to the NHS…Andy Burnham, the shadow home secretary who has led warnings that the party risked alienating its core supporters, said that the EU “won’t survive” without changes to the rules on freedom of movement.’ – The Times (£)
>Today: ToryDiary: To appease furious Labour voters, Balls urges a Remain vote AND free movement curbs. Good luck with that one!
>Yesterday: WATCH: Brown on Labour’s new prominence in the Remain campaign
‘A Brexit vote could destroy western political civilisation as well as the European Union, one of its most senior political figures warned yesterday. The apocalyptic claim came from Donald Tusk, president of the European Council and former Polish prime minister. Voting to leave would be a geopolitical setback for Britain, he said, and radical anti-European forces would be “drinking champagne”…“As a historian I fear that Brexit could be the beginning of the destruction of not only the EU but also of western political civilisation in its entirety.”’ – The Times (£)
>Yesterday:
‘British aid money may be indirectly going into the hands of Palestinian terrorists, Sir Eric Pickles said last night in a direct attack on his own Government. The former communities secretary said funding sent to the Palestinian Authority is used to free up money to pay prisoners who have committed attacks in the Israeli conflict. And he warned of ‘worrying reports’ that some charities funded by taxpayers’ money were ‘promoting violence on social media pages’.’ – Daily Mail
>Yesterday: Amanda Solloway on Comment: I’m proud of our aid budget – it needs scrutiny, not cuts
‘Ukip failed to declare thousands of pounds worth of general election spending in the seat eventually lost by Nigel Farage, an analysis suggests. An analysis of election records shows that Ukip was potentially £10,500 over the legal spending limit of £15,000 in the constituency. Documents show that Ukip split much of the expenses incurred during the campaign between Mr Farage and up to 64 local candidates.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘Advertisements that are likely to create problems with people’s confidence in their body are to be banned from London’s public transport network, Sadiq Khan, the city’s mayor, has said. Concerns were raised last year when a poster in London Underground stations promoting protein shakes featured a model in a bikini and asked: “Are you beach body ready?” Many of the posters were defaced and a petition calling for their removal gathered tens of thousands of signatures. Mr Khan has announced that from next month Transport for London (TfL) will not allow adverts on its network that could be seen to cause pressure to conform to unrealistic or unhealthy body shapes.’ – The Times (£)
‘President Obama wants Congress to ban the AR-15 assault rifle, the fast-loading, easy to use assault weapon used to kill 49 people at an Orlando nightclub early Sunday. ‘These assault weapons are weapons of war and they have no place in the hands of a legitimate hunter or much more likely is that a weapon of war is going to end up in the hands of someone like this who will be able to carry out a much more violent act because they are using a weapon that was intended not for the streets of Orlando but for a battlefield,’ said White House press secretary Josh Earnest Monday. ‘The president is very strongly on the record in favor of banning assault weapons.’ – Daily Mail
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Orlando. A British-born preacher says “death is the sentence” for gay people. Only a few months later, scores are murdered.