British voters are deciding in a referendum June 23 on whether to leave the 28-nation bloc – a move being called a “Brexit“. With polls giving a mixed picture, bookies’ odds on an “out” vote winning have been slashed from about 4-1 to as short as 2-1 in recent days.
“Leave” supporters feel they are gaining momentum with their argument that leaving the bloc – which grants free movement to 500 million Europeans – is the only way to control immigration. They also say Britain will have more money to spend on public services if it stops sending billions a year to the EU.
Cameron, who heads the “remain” campaign, told a hastily convened press conference that anti-EU campaigners were “resorting to total untruths to con people into taking a leap in the dark.”
He said their claims that Britain would suffer few economic ill effects from leaving were contradicted by “every credible economic organization.”
Asked if he was worried his side was losing, Cameron said “not at all.”
“What I’m worried about, what I’m concerned about, is that people are being told things that aren’t correct,” he said. “Voters had to choose between credible experts warning about risks to our economic security on one side and a series of assertions that turn out to be completely untrue on the other”.