The Guardian’s Helen Pidd has filed a dispatch on Nigel Farage’s return to the north-east this evening as he comes to the end of his We Want Our Country Back tour.
He’s at the Sage in Gateshead: a magnificent silver shimmering building paid for with millions of EU development funding.
Around 500 people have opted to miss the England match in order to listen to the Ukip leader do one of his final public appearances before Thursday’s referendum.
The event began with Farage observing a minute’s silence in memory of Jo Cox, along with Labour MP Kate Hoey and Tory MP David Davis.
He then returned to the stage to the tune of the Final Countdown and men bellowing “Nigel for PM!” to deliver a riposte to those who have suggested his campaign may have somehow influenced Cox’s murderer, Thomas Mair.
He said: “There are one or two in the Remain camp, their spin doctor [Will Straw] being foremost among them, but also some of their speakers, who have tried to say that the motives of that man were somehow whipped up or inspired by a leave campaign that had fought on a nasty, negative and hateful agenda.
“I want to say: that man, who had his own mental health issues, that man acted in isolation. What that man did was an act of barbarism and every one of us who will go out to vote to Leave condemns utterly what he did.
“Some have tried to demonise me or others to say we’ve upped the rhetoric. Compared to the Scottish referendum we have done no such thing. All we’ve done is ask for sensible, balanced, controlled immigration so that we can have the right number of people to come to our country and benefit our society and we know we can’t do that in the European Union.”
Nigel Farage comes on to the Final Countdown in Gateshead as supporters shout "Nigel for PM" https://t.co/66RWjfiTnk
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) June 20, 2016
We’re going to wrap up the blog at this point. Thanks for reading.
Updated
Corbyn said his support for a Remain vote was “not unconditional by any means” and set out a list of problems with the EU. He said:
I’m opposed to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which is being negotiated largely in secret between the European Union and the US because it would import the worst working conditions and standards from the US into Europe.
I’m also opposed to the way in which Europe shields tax havens - this country as well shields tax havens.
And the way in which systematically big companies are exploiting loopholes in employment laws. So I’m calling for a Europe in solidarity.
But I would also say that if we are to deal with issues like climate change, like environmental issues, you cannot do it within national borders, you can only do it across national borders.
Updated
If you missed it, here’s a clip of Corbyn’s opening statement in that Sky appearance earlier:
During the appearance, the Labour leader said that the European Union must change “dramatically” if Britain remains a member after Thursday’s referendum.
Staying part of the 28-member bloc has “implications”, he told audience of young voters on Sky News.
Corbyn, a long-time critic of the EU who voted against membership of the European Economic Community in 1975, has faced accusations that his campaigning for the Remain camp has been lukewarm. He said:
It’s a big decision. If we stay in Europe there are implications, if we leave Europe there are massive implications.
But, it is also a turning point because if we leave I don’t think there is an easy way back. If we remain, I believe Europe has got to change quite dramatically to something much more democratic, much more accountable and share our wealth and improve our living standards and our working conditions all across the whole continent.
Reviewing Jeremy Corbyn’s performance earlier on Sky, George Eaton of the New Statesman says he couldn’t shake the sense that a shrug would be the Labour leader’s most likely response to Brexit.
Though he noted the economic and social value of the EU (“more than half of our trade”), Corbyn spent much of the programme lambasting its agenda. His support for Remain, he warned, was “not unconditional”.
He attacked TTIP as the “enfranchisement of global corporations at the expense of democratic countries”, and denounced Europe for “shielding tax havens” and allowing large companies to exploit “loopholes in employment law.”
Corbyn’s support isn’t for today’s EU but for the “Europe of solidarity” that fellow left-wing leaders have helped persuade him can be achieved.
A minute’s silence for Jo Cox is being held at a Leave.EU rally in Gateshead, reports Michael Crick of Channel 4 news
Leave.EU rally in Gateshead with Farage, Hoey and David Davis, holds a minute's silence for Jo Cox pic.twitter.com/JbHeFiVzDt
— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) June 20, 2016
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One of Britain’s largest Unions, the GMB, has said that there are “72 hours to save workers’ rights” as it released a strongly worded statement warning that a range of comments made by pro-Leave politicians suggested that key protections for workers were at risk in the event of a Brexit.
Tim Roache, the GMB’s General Secretary, said:
In the past, leading figures from the Leave campaign have said they believe EU legislation that protects workers’ rights is ‘job destroying’.
Their intentions are absolutely clear. We’ve got just 72 hours to save workers’ rights, by voting to remain in the European Union.
For me it’s an angry remain, I recognise Europe is far from perfect but the only way we can rebalance that is to be in the European Union, shaping reform for working people.
Listing a number of comments by leading figures on the Leave side, the GMB said that Michael Gove had described paternity leave as “job destroying” in his column in The Times in 2000, while Boris Johnson had used his column in the Daily Telegraph in 2014 to say that it was time to “root out the nonsense of the social chapter - the working time directive and the atypical work directive and other job-destroying regulations”.
The latest phase of the pro-Remain campaign by the union, which represents 640,000 members, was accompanied by the release of a film which it has made after contacting thousands of its members to ask them about their concerns ahead of polling day on June 23.
Updated
The Guardian’s Rowena Mason has filed a report on the resignation of a Vote Leave board member after it emerged that she promoted anti-Muslim material on social media, including an image of a white girl in the middle of a group of people wearing burqas saying: “Britain 2050: why didn’t you stop them Grandad?”
Arabella Arkwright, a businesswoman who sat on the board and finance committee of Vote Leave, stepped down after the Guardian asked her about a series of tweets and retweets from her account.
Other retweets included a link from Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League, suggesting UK Muslims were trying to build an Islamic state in Britain.
Another retweet came in response to a Twitter user saying they would never eat tikka masala again if it “got seventh-century barbaric savagery” out of Britain. A reply from Arkwright’s account said: “No to sharia law. By by [sic] tikka masala .”
Updated
The Leave supporting Labour MP, Kate Hoey, tells Sky that the performance was “typical Jeremy” - engaging with an audience in a very agreeable way.
She says that she welcomes the fact that he made it clear that he does not love the EU.
“I didn’t feel any passion for the EU from him,” she adds
What was more important for her was that, “whatever happens”, Corbyn will still be fighting for the things he believes in as leader of the Labour Party.
Now to reaction to Corbyn’s performance. Toby Young, a Leave supporter, is one of a number of people are picking up on his warning that there would be a “bonfire of regulations”
Corbyn’s “bonfire of workers’ rights” argument shows a lack of faith in the British people. We don’t need the EU to preserve those rights.
— Toby Young (@toadmeister) June 20, 2016
On the other hand...
Genuinely think this has been one of Corbyn's best media appearances to date. Measured, thoughtful, engaged with audience. Very good stuff
— Joe Moore (@JoeMoore42) June 20, 2016
Back at the Sky event Faisal Islam canvasses opinion from the audience.
“I think he made a passionate case to remain but the most important thing is that he said the EU is not perfect, though the solution is to remain,” says one man, who remains a Remain voter.
An Outer meanwhile wasn’t convinced by Corbyn’s insistence that he’s not a member of the establishment, saying that if the leader of the opposition isn’t part of the establishment then she doesn’t know who is.
There’s time for one last question, which shifts back to more comfortable ground for Corbyn. We’re in the middle of a housing crisis, says the questioner, who asks if being in the EU is “propping up that crisis”.
Corbyn says that the real answer is to chase down the tax avoiders and tax evaders, some of whom are in Europe and some of whom are in the Cayman Islands.
But secondly, says the Labour leader, it’s crucial to challenge the British government on their failure to build social housing and for allowing ‘social cleansing’.
“We can must and will conquer the housing crisis for people who need housing, rather than those who see it as investment opportunities.”
Corbyn says he is not a “lover of the European Union”, but as rational decision believes that it’s better to stay and fight for better regulations when it comes to issues such as environmental protection.
It’s a line which strike Islam as being quite significant - he repeats it back to Corbyn - and may well be one of the more memorable moments from this.
Corbyn follows up in a dialogue with a man in the audience who asks if he will “shoulder the blame” if there is a pro-Brexit vote.
“I am not going to take blame for people’s decisions,” says Corbyn, who says that there will be a decision made on Thursday. He’s hoping that there will be a remain vote but adds that there may well be a Leave vote
“Whatever the result we have got to work with it,” he tells the audience. The man in the audience who who asked that questions says the the Labour leader “doesn’t sound convinced”.
Corbyn insists that he is committed to backing a Remain vote, before adding: “Whatever the result I want to see better working conditions across Europe.”
Islam asks: “So it’s immaterial one way or the other?” Corbyn disagrees.
An audience member follows up on the same topic, pleading for restrictions on workers coming into the UK and taking jobs which they are less qualified for than domestic workers.
“If you restrict free movement of labour across Europe then you are defeating the whole point of the common market,” says Corbyn, who suggests that there would possibly be some sort of retribution for British people working in Europe.
Updated
Ryan Scott comes forward with a question: How would his party protect those lower paid Britons who lose out because others are prepared to come and work for much less in the UK?
Corbyn responds: By ensuring that local rates are respected, that the living wage becomes a reality and to ensure that there is lower levels of disparity.
“It’s complicated, not easy,” he says, saying that companies have exploited migrant workers who are here. A higher minimum wage is important, as well as much more controls on the way that companies behave.
Corbyn instances Mike Ashley, the owner of Sports direct, and the number of people working there on zero hours contracts. One of this proposals is to work with other EU states who have actually banned zero hour contracts.
It’s moving at a fairly swift pace now so apologies for missing out on a few questions.
A man called Jordan picks up on the checks which Corbyn has talked about, questioning how people are coming into the UK “inside lorries”.
Corbyn tells him that the point applies when people actually apply for refugee status, instancing the example of Afghans who worked as translators in their country and then came to the UK illegally.
He adds: “There’s something strange that is going on at the moment. Hundreds of people have died trying to cross the mediterranean. Has it had headline coverage day after day...? No, it has had minimal coverage.”
That’s claim which, I think, would be largely contested by many journalists working for organisations such as the Guardian, the BBC and others.
The questioning has move on to the refugee crisis. Corbyn says he believes that the approach to the crisis by Britain and the EU has been appalling.
“We are not going to solve this crisis with barbed wire and CS gas. What we need is humanity and a political solution in Syria,” the Labour leader tells the audience.
He also attacks the “bigoted response” to THAT poster, prompting applause from some in the audience.
Corbyn follows up by making the case to remain inside the EU however, saying: “If there was no EU and instead you had 27 member states - would there be any coordinated response.. probably not”
There’s scepticism from a man called Matthew who says there is not adequate checks on the people coming trough with genuine refugees. Corbyn tells him that getting refugee status is very difficult: “The idea that you can just walk into a country and get refugee status is far far from the reality.”
Updated
We’re on to a question now about TTIP and it comes from Daniel Chipeta, who is a student social worker. He asks what is the motivation for remaining in an organisation which promotes TTIP and “sustained inequalities in our society?
Comfortable ground for Corbyn in some ways, who has put his opposition to the trans atlantic deal on the record very firmly. This is not at odds with his “practical” support for the EU.
He says there is every chance that it will not see the light of day and follows up by saying that he believes that working inside Europe on a market which would continue to allow the UK to trade inside Europe with the states it enjoys most of its historical trading links with is crucial.
“If we came out of the EU, a government led by the main people leading the Leave campaign would sign a TTIP as soon as they could,” he adds, in what is perhaps one of his more effective soundbites so far.
Next question ( more a sort of jibe perhaps): As a socialist you should be opposing EU membership “but now you seem to have forgotten that since you’re a member of the establishment.”
Ouch.
Corbyn says he’s not a member of the establishment. He’s the leader of the Labour Party and is calling for a Europe of solidarity.
Islam follows up reminding of Corbyn’s previous anti-European votes, going all the way back to the 1975 referendum
There’s applause when Islam asks if the Labour leader has “had his head turned” by meeting European bigwigs.
“No.. My head has not been turned,” says Corbyn with a smile, before drawing a distinction between the Europe envisaged by Margaret Thatcher and the aspects of the social chapter and other parts of the EU which he says has been very beneficial for workers’ rights.
The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has arrived at Sky’s referendum debate in front of an audience, all under the age of 35, who are evenly split on leaving/remaining.
Faisal Islam is the hosting this evening’s grilling, which kicks off with the first question from Lucy Kendrick: “Do you think the public understand why we are having the referendum?”
A lot of them probably do not, replies Corbyn. If we remain he believes that Europe needs to change to something much more democratic and accountable, he adds.
In the last two or three days, he predicts that the public will finally begin to “catch on” while the politicians are becoming exhausted.
It’s a particularly important question given that research has recently suggested that a large proportion of Labour supporters have been in the dark about their party’s stance.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/30/labour-voters-in-the-dark-about-partys-stance-on-brexit-research-says
Updated
Key Brexit backer admits private polling to assess impact of Jo Cox death
Arron Banks, the insurance millionaire and Ukip donor, who has funded the Leave.EU campaign, has admitted he funded private polling of UK voters to assess whether the killing of MP Jo Cox would affect the referendum.
Speaking on LBC to presenter Iain Dale, Banks denied it was tasteless to poll such a sensitive issue. “You may think that, I don’t,” he said.
“We’re hoping to see what the effect of the event was, that’s an interesting point of view, to see if it shifted public opinion.”
Listeners expressed disgust on texts and tweets to Dale, who said Banks must have expected “a great deal of revulsion... why have you even told us about it?”
“I just don’t see it as very controversial,” Banks said. “I think you live in a bit of a media bubble.
Astonishing. Leave.EU founder Arron Banks says he did private polling to judge impact of Jo Cox's death. Denies it was "tasteless"
— Sunny Hundal (@sunny_hundal) June 20, 2016
I’m handing over to my colleague Ben Quinn now who will cover Jeremy Corbyn’s live Sky News debate.
Updated
Just one in five Britons say EU immigration has had a negative effect on them personally
This is an interesting poll, which perhaps surprising findings, by Ipsos Mori, which found relatively few voters said they felt EU immigration had had a negative impact on their life.
· More (46%) think EU immigration has been good rather than bad (30%) for the economy, but over half (55%) say it has had a negative effect on the NHS
· Half say immigration has had no impact on their own area, while a quarter say it has had a positive impact and the same say it has had a negative impact
As you’d expect, people’s views change depending on which side of the referendum debate they come down on - 65% of Leave supporters say immigration has been bad for the country, and just 19% say the opposite. On the other side, 62% say immigration has been good for the country, and just 20% saying it has been bad.
Almost half the public think EU migrants contribute positively to the economy, compared with three in ten who say the opposite, and 42% say it has been positive for culture and society, compared with 36% who say it has been bad. The one area where there is clearer consensus that the effect of EU immigration has been negative is the NHS.
The poll found 47% said EU migration has had no impact on the area where they live, and when asked what impact EU immigration has had on them personally, the majority say it has had no impact.
Ipsos MORI interviewed 1,257 adults aged 18 and over by phone between 11th and 14th June 2016.
The Guardian’s politics weekly podcast has a referendum special you can download now, Tom Clark heads out on the streets of Reading and we hear from both sides of Labour’s EU debate with MPs Alan Johnson and Graham Stringer.
The musician and activist Billy Bragg has written a thoughtful piece on the impact of a Brexit vote on the working class. He says though that he understands the anger many have felt at being ignored and taken for granted.
For years the English working classes were taken for granted by New Labour – under the mistaken impression they had no one else to vote for – and patronised by the Tories, who sold them the lie of better services and lower taxation. Successive governments have encouraged the creation of the most deregulated labour market in Europe, undermining the very things that families build their security on: regular work, long-term tenancy, access to education and the support of local social services.
Those leading the push for Brexit are no friends of working people, however. Boris Johnson’s personal credo – “I am pro having my cake and pro eating it” – should have been their battlebus slogan. They are pitching Britain’s exit from the EU as all gain and no pain. They promise the masses that everything they like will be better and everything they hate will be gone, when in truth what will be gone are the last vestiges of the welfare state that their grandparents built.
For the leave campaign is driven by libertarians who seek to create, in the name of free enterprise, an even more precarious economy than that which has left so many of the English working class insecure and disillusioned.
Bookies odds are usually an alternative gauge of the public mood, and Ladbrokes have one interesting little snippet today - 95% of all referendum wagers in the last 24 hours have been for remain.
One punter in Newport has bet £25,000 on a remain win, with chances of Brexit now cut to 26% by the bookmaker.
Brendan Cox, the husband of MP Jo Cox, has just tweeted his thanks to House of Commons staff and members after their tributes to his wife.
Thank you to the whole House& staff for your kindness& compassion to our family today & for describing so well the Jo we love #MoreInCommon
— Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) June 20, 2016
If you agree with the Guardian’s endorsement of remain, and you want to get involved in campaigning, this is a guide to how you can help the cause over the last few days, even if you’ve steered well clear of political canvassing in the past.
Updated
Channel 4 has confirmed its line-up of the final televised EU referendum debate on Wednesday night with an audience of 150 public figures split between remain, leave and those still undecided.
Former Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman will host the 90-minute broadcast featuring revolving panels on topics such as the economy, immigration, and security chosen from the audience made up of “well-known and passionate guests”.
Those representing remain include MPs Alex Salmond and Yvette Cooper, presenter June Sarpong, musician Rick Astley and celebrity chef Delia Smith.
Those in the leave part of the audience will include Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, former Tory MPs Louise Mensch and Ann Widdecombe, presenter Ulrika Jonsson and columnist and author Toby Young.
Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands, presenter Rick Edwards and Guardian columnist Suzanne Moore will provide a voice for undecided voters.
Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein President, today issued an appeal for voters in Northern Ireland to support remaining in the EU.
Adams also warned that a Brexit would have implications for the whole of the island of Ireland.
Speaking at the Stormont parliament in Belfast today, Adams said:
We don’t want to see the return of border checkpoints between the north and south or restrictions on trade.
A very poignant tweet by Conservative MP Rebecca Harris. MPs have left the chamber now but the red and white rose on Jo Cox’s usual seat are still there, on the green benches.
— Rebecca Harris (@RebeccaHarrisMP) June 20, 2016
Guardian backs Remain: 'keep connected and inclusive, not angry and isolated'
The Guardian has published its editorial endorsement of a vote to Remain in the EU, a decision that will surprise few of our readers.
Do read the whole thing, but here’s how it opens:
Who do we think we are, and who do we want to be? Are we so different from others that we cannot play by shared rules? Are we one member in a family of nations, or a country that prefers to keep itself to itself and bolt the door?
All of these questions were always on the ballot in this week’s fateful referendum. But after a campaign that has been nasty, brutish and seemingly endless, the UK will be voting on another question too. With all the differences and the diversity among all of us who already live on these islands, how are we all going to get along? In the run-up to polling day this contest has risked descending into a plebiscite on whether immigrants are a good or a bad thing. To see what is at stake, just consider the dark forces that could so easily become emboldened by a narrow insistence on putting the indigenous first.
The backdrop has been the most unrelenting, unbalanced and sometimes xenophobic press assault in history. The leading political lights of leave have claimed to be pro-immigrant and yet have, at the same time, been ruthlessly fearmongering about Britain being overrun by Turks, after a Turkish accession which they understand perfectly well is not on the cards. The mood is frenzied, the air thick with indignation, and clouded with untruths. The best starting point for Britain to reach a sound decision on Thursday is to cool the passions of the heart, and listen to the head.
All reason tells us that the great issues of our time have little respect for national borders. The leave side has attempted to turn “expert” into a term of abuse, but one does not need the IMF, the Bank of England or any special knowledge to grasp that these border-busting issues range from corporate power, migration and tax evasion to weapons proliferation, epidemics and climate change. Not one of them can be properly tackled at the level of the nation state. Impose controls on a multinational corporation and it will move to a softer jurisdiction. Crack down on tax evasion and the evaders will vanish offshore. Cap your own carbon emissions in isolation and some other country will burn with abandon.
In so far as any of these problems can be effectively addressed, it is through cooperation. A better world means working across borders, not sheltering behind them. Cutting yourself off solves nothing. That, fundamentally, is why Britain should vote to remain in the club that represents the most advanced form of cross-border cooperation that the world has ever seen.
This is the poem read by Baroness Kinnock at the memorial service, tweeted by Sky News’ Beth Rigby. It is by Kurdish Syrian poet Zeki Majed.
Thus is the poem Baroness Kinnock read at #JoCoxMP's memorial service> "A Brave Woman" pic.twitter.com/0YMGAZeDYu
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) June 20, 2016
Many MPs are going to lay flowers now in Parliament Square, there are already significant numbers of floral tributes and candles there.
Updated
A ‘Yes to Europe’ rally previously scheduled for Saturday 18th June, postponed following the death of Jo Cox MP, will now take place in Trafalgar Square at 7pm tomorrow.
Organiser Sophie Nazemi, a student at King’s College London, wrote on the Facebook event publicising the rally:
It is more important than ever that we stand united against prejudice and hate. Thursday’s vote is about much more than the tangible benefits of our membership in the EU, it’s about the kind of country we want to live in and the kind of future we want to see.
Almost three thousand people have registered interest in attending on social media, many of whom are students, and the rally, which will feature live music and speeches, has been endorsed by the National Union of Students using the hashtag #StudentsIn.
Yes to Europe rally in Leicester Square today: //www.facebook.com/events/1726890050917017/ #StudentsIn #EUReferendum #EURefReady
— NUS UK (@nusuk) June 18, 2016
Nazemi told the Guardian earlier today that the emphasis of the rally would be on “unity and co-operation – things that really define our generation” and said social media had helped generate interest for the event, only been arranged less than a week ago.
Church service remembers Jo Cox
MPs have gathered at St Margaret’s Church in the grounds of Westminster Abbey where there will be readings from Speaker John Bercow and Baroness Kinnock, a close friend of Cox whom she worked for when Kinnock was an MEP.
The choir is singing Requiem by Maurice Durufle as MPs file into the parish church, used as a place for members together at times of national commemoration.
What a lovely thing that is, to hear singing so loud and uplifting ring out across Parliament square.
— Kate McCann (@KateEMcCann) June 20, 2016
Beautiful singing at full voice in St Margarets in honour of #JoCoxMP
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) June 20, 2016
Commons chaplain Rose Hudson-Wilkin is leading the service with Canon Andrew Tremlett. His address will say:
As people of good faith, of unshakeable determination, and unswerving commitment to serve the people of this United Kingdom, we come here to offer our prayers and petitions, the pain of our hearts, and the cries of our souls, as we remember and pray for Jo Cox, Member of Parliament for Batley and Spen, for Brendan, and for their children.
Traditional Irish hymns and psalms will follow, as well as readings by Bercow from Deuteronomy and by Kinnock from Philippians.
Updated
Nissan to take legal action over Vote Leave claim
Nissan, the Japanese car manufacturer, has said it will take legal action against Vote Leave for featuring the firm’s trademark in its referendum leaflets.
The car maker is seeking an injunction, the Press Association reports. Here’s the statement:
We were extremely disappointed to discover that the Vote Leave campaign had been using the Nissan name and logo in their literature and on their website without our permission. We immediately requested that they stop doing so.
It has since come to light that the Vote Leave campaign continue to use our logo and trademark despite our repeated requests for them to stop.
Permission to use our name and logo was not requested. If it was, it would not have been granted. Furthermore, use of the Nissan name and logo by the Vote Leave campaign in their materials grossly misrepresents our widely circulated and publicly stated position announced on 23rd February 2016.
To be clear, Nissan is not supporting any political campaign regarding this most serious of issues. This is a matter for the people of the UK to decide.
We vigorously protect the Nissan brand and intellectual property in all markets in which we operate. We have repeatedly asked Vote Leave to stop using our name and logo on their materials and to stop misrepresenting our views - a request that has clearly been denied.
As such, we will be issuing legal proceedings today in the High Court asking for an injunction to stop Vote Leave’s use of Nissan’s name and logo, and to prevent them from making any further false statements and misrepresentations concerning Nissan.
Tributes are continuing in the House of Lords to Jo Cox as MPs head to the chapel for a service of remembrance.
Baroness Angela Smith, shadow leader of the Lords, gave this tribute, where she urged others not to be deterred into public service.
Our democracy will be seriously weakened if this outrage stops our brightest and our best from stepping forward into public life. When good people of passion and principle tell their family and friends that they want to be a councillor or a Member of Parliament – I want their families to be proud of them. Not fear for them.
Yet the level of vitriol and violence contaminating our public and political life will deter some of the people that we need the most.
Almost every MP can report threats and abuse, sometimes violent. And although social media makes it easier, it’s too easy just to blame the internet. All of this has coincided with the deterioration of political debate.
Of course we must argue our differences on policy with emotion and conviction. But too many have gone beyond that. The tone of the debate and the language - particularly around immigration and asylum seekers - shames many. And the drip feed of denigration and abuse, poisons the very air that we breathe.
Here’s the video of Corbyn and Cameron’s tributes an hour ago.
Cameron said Cox was “a voice of compassion, whose irrepressible spirit and boundless energy lit up the lives of all who knew her and saved the lives of many she never, ever met.”
Closing the tributes, Bercow says he must put the motion of tributes to Jo Cox to the house and hopes to hear the “loudest ayes” in the history of the House of Commons. He is not disappointed.
MPs will now go to a service with chaplain Rose Hudson-Wilkin to remember Cox.
The whole House of Commons now stands in a rare round of applause, ending the recalled session. Brendan Cox and the couple’s two children have been watching from the public gallery. It really has been an extraordinarily moving hour.
Applause from all sides of the House of Commons, press gallery, and public gallery in memory of Jo Cox.
— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) June 20, 2016
Jo Cox, an MP for a year, receiving tributes that a veteran would be proud of. Remarkable achievement.
— George Eaton (@georgeeaton) June 20, 2016
Jeremy Corbyn waves to Jo Cox's family as MPs give a minute's standing applause at the end of the tributes. An incredibly moving hour.
— Marcus Dysch (@MarcusDysch) June 20, 2016
Updated
MP Jonathan Reynolds, a close friend of Cox, said her willingness to enter public service “cost her her life”. He recalled one moment when his wife Claire had been breastfeeding their child at Labour conference, and Cox had sat down to feed her own son in solidarity, after she saw Claire had been receiving some uncomfortable looks.
He says he hopes Cox’s story will inspire his daughter, as a “parliamentarian, mother and a friend”.
Labour MP Mary Creagh says Jo Cox “fizzed with life, compassion and commitment to social justice”.
She credits Cox’s campaign with helping bring more Syrian refugees to Britain, saying she had “achieved more in 13 months” than some MPs had in years. “She had an open mind and an open heart. It was a blessing to have known Jo, rest in peace sweet friend,” she said.
Barry Sheerman, MP for Huddersfield, said MPs have a duty to support her family, saying wonderful parents could have raised such a daughter.
Green party MP Caroline Lucas, said she wished she had known Cox better. “All that work with her considered her a friend,” she said. “She was a formidable woman. We pledge in her memory to always put hope before hatred.”
Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, is speaking now, paying tribute to Cox’s work with refugees. He says her legacy is one of building bridges and not walls, and jokes he as a Lancastrian is wearing a white Yorkshire rose.
Alison McGovern, the Labour MP for Wirral South, is tearful as she starts her tribute, quoting Cox’s own words about refugees, saying she would “risk everything to save her own precious babies.”
Alison McGovern, her voice breaking with emotion, quotes from Jo Cox's speech calling for the UK to help child refugees
— Owen Bennett (@owenjbennett) June 20, 2016
McGovern says Cox might have been devoted to her hometown but knew compassion did not end at its borders.
Jo didn’t just believe that women’s voices should be heard - she made it so.
Eilidh Whiteford, the SNP MP, said vigils have been held all over the world for Cox. There’s some laughs as Whiteford remembered the diminutive MP for her part in the MPs tug-of-war.
I want to remember Jo for how she lived not how she died. Those of us who knew you will never forget you and I hope you rest in peace.
Stephen Doughty, the Labour MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, who worked with Cox at Oxfam, says she was “furious at injustice but saw no one as a permanent enemy and everyone as a potential ally.”
Stephen Doughty: She was never satisfied with platitudes. She wanted action. #JoCoxMP
— Red Box (@timesredbox) June 20, 2016
Updated
Labour MP Holly Lynch said it would be the hardest speech she would ever give, saying she had embodied the sentiment of making a difference as an MP
She was a daughter of Yorkshire and fought tirelessly of those who had put her faith in her.
Lynch says she will remember her “warmth, spirit and her laugh” and says the intake of 2015 will be forever grateful to her unifying spirit.
She was the heart and soul of these benches. We are heartbroken. We will miss her every day... and we will do everything in our power to make her and her family incredibly proud.
Stephen Kinnock, a long-time friend who shared an office with Cox, called her death both a national tragedy and an unspeakable personal tragedy.
The fearless Jo Cox never stopped fighting, she gave voice to voiceless and spoke truth to power. She put her convictions to work for everyone she touched.
Cox was “assassinated because of what she was, because of what she stood for,” Kinnock said. He says she would have been outraged at the poster unveiled by Nigel Farage on the day she died, which showed queuing refugees and the caption “Breaking Point.”
"Jo would have responded with outrage" to @UKIP poster on immigration says @SKinnock https://t.co/YYsal8jXAH
— DailySunday Politics (@daily_politics) June 20, 2016
“Jo understood rhetoric has consequences,” he said. “We must now stand up for something better because of someone better. We must work to build a more respectful and united country.
We love you, we salute you and we will never forget you.
Updated
Harriet Harman pays tribute to Cox’s feminism, and her support of women MPs and encouragement of female Labour candidates.
Harriet Harman remembers Jo Cox bringing her baby into work."She didn't stop kissing him all the way through the meeting."
— Emily Ashton (@elashton) June 20, 2016
Stuart Andrew, a Conservative MP who represents the nearby constituency of Pudsey, said he and Cox had been close friends despite political affiliations
Some say she was a rising star. I think she was a star.
He said that in her tragic death, she has continued to be a force for unity which she stood for during her life.
Above all I will miss her smile, as we pass each other in the corridor or across the House. The only regret I have is that I only knew her for a year.
Updated
Some laughter amid the tears as Andrew Mitchell says #JoCoxMP made "common cause with a crusty old Tory" over Syria
— Vicki Young (@BBCVickiYoung) June 20, 2016
Very moving and thoughtful tributes to Jo Cox from all sides: the House of Commons at its very best.
— Tim Walker (@ThatTimWalker) June 20, 2016
Very touching and heartfelt tribute to Jo Cox by @RachelReevesMP
— Mary Riddell (@MaryRiddell) June 20, 2016
Andrew Mitchell, the former secretary of state, says the pain of the family will be “unbearable”. He says he still keeps the green wristband she gave him when they marched against the genocide in Darfur.
She was Labour to her fingertips but restlessly dismissive of party political manoeuvring.
“Making common cause with a crusty old Tories, she and I became co-chairs as of Friends of Syria”, he said. Calling her a “five-foot bundle of old-fashioned Yorkshire common sense”, Mitchell said he and Cox had met the Russian ambassador, and “dressed him down” in a meeting the Russian ambassador “will not easily forget.”
I do not believe she would want this vile and unspeakable act to change relationship with constituents. Thankfully the record shows these attacks are as infrequent as they are disgraceful.
He calls on MPs to re-double efforts to solve the crisis in Syria, the legacy Cox would have wanted.
Updated
Rachel Reeves, a friend of Cox for 10 years, says the best way to remember Cox is to carry her legacy on. She breaks down in tears as she says a new member will be elected for Batley and Spen, “but no one can replace a mother”.
Red and white roses placed in House of Commons to mark Jo Cox's seat pic.twitter.com/JMDM3RfZsp
— Graeme Demianyk (@GraemeDemianyk) June 20, 2016
Cameron says her politics were “inspired by love” quoting her maiden speech. He says a global celebration of her life and values will take place on her birthday on Wednesday, across the world, including London, New York, Brussels and the Middle East.
May we and the generation of members that follow us in this House honour her memory, proving the democracy she stood for is unbreakable... uniting against the hatred that killed her, today and forever more.
Updated
Cameron pays tribute to 'loving, determined' politician
Cameron said he first met Jo in 2006 in Darfur, “doing what she was so brilliant at... fighting for the lives of refugees.”
Colleagues of hers had not been so keen on welcoming a Tory leader, he said, but Cox was determined to reach across political divides. He praises her dedication to humanitarian work, in Sudan, DRC and Syria.
Quite simply there are people around the world who are only alive because of Jo.
Corbyn thanks the prime minister for attending the vigil in Birstall, and said he has been moved by the public outpouring of support since Cox’s death, and the charitable donations “to causes close to her heart”.
We are united in grief at her loss. And we must be aware her killing is an attack on our democracy, it is an attack on our whole democracy. In her tragic death, we can come together to change our politics, to tolerate a little more and condemn a little less.
He quotes Cox’s husband’s Brendan who says his wife believed in a “better world”.
In her honour we recommit ourselves to that task.
Updated
Corbyn leads tribute to Cox, calling her killing 'attack on democracy'
Jeremy Corbyn leads the tributes to Cox in the packed chamber, wearing a black suit and tie. The horrific act that took Cox from us was an attack on democracy, Corbyn says.
Jo Cox didn’t just believe in loving her neighbour... she saw a world of neighbours.
Her community and the whole country has been united in grief, and unuted in rejecting the well of hatred that killed her, Corbyn said. Her children and husband can be so proud of everything she was, all she achieved and all she stood for, he said.
Jo would have been 42 this Wednesday, Corbyn says, she had much more to give and much more to achieve.
He pays tribute to Bernard Kenny, who was stabbed as he tried to intervene, and says the whole house will want to wish him a speedy recovery.
And he called for a “kinder, gentler politics”.
Updated
John Bercow opens tributes to Jo Cox in the House of Commons
MPs are wearing white roses, the symbol of Cox’s beloved Yorkshire, as the tributes begin. She was determined to live life to the full, says an emotional Bercow. She fought for people both at home at abroad who were victims of poverty and injustice.
An attack like this strikes not only at an individual but at our freedom. That is why we assemble here, both to honour Jo and to re-double our dedication to democracy.
Cox’s children, five-year-old Cuillin and three-year-old Lejla, are here with their father Brendan, who has his daughter on his lap. Cox’s parents Jean and Gordon and her sister Kim are in the public gallery too.
Updated
Good afternoon, I’m taking over from Andrew Sparrow now for the rest of the afternoon and watching the tributes to Jo Cox MP in the Commons from 2.30.
Jeremy Corbyn will speak first, followed by David Cameron, followed by friends of the MP. We expect that to include many from the 2015 intake - including her office mate Stephen Kinnock, as well as Wes Streeting and Holly Lynch.
Rachel Reeves, her fellow West Yorkshire will also speak, as well Andrew Mitchell, the former secretary of state for international development.
Despite former leader and Nobel peace prize winner David Trimble calling for an Out vote on Thursday the current head of the Ulster Unionist Party today said a Remain outcome would strengthen Northern Ireland inside the UK.
Former television news present Mike Nesbitt urged pro union voters to “use your head” because “my head says we must remain.”
The UUP leader added: “Unionists should be confident that by voting remain, they not only strengthen our hand in fighting for reform within the European Union, it also strengthens our United Kingdom.”
Nesbitt issued his appeal on Monday on the back of a new Ipsos Mori poll across the region for today’s Belfast Telegraph which has found growing support for Brexit, in the main within the unionist community.
The survey of more than 1,000 voters has found that support for Remain has dropped over the last two months from 44% to 37%. Those backing Brexit have increased by 6% to 26% from two months ago.
Crucially however 37% of voters across Northern Ireland have told the pollsters they are still undecided with just three days to go.
Thomas Mair appears in court
The man accused of killing Labour MP Jo Cox has appeared in court again in the past few minutes.
Thomas Mair, 52, from Birstall, appeared at the Old Bailey via video link from Belmarsh prison, charged with murder, grievous bodily harm, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and possession of an offensive weapon.
When asked to confirm he was Thomas Mair, he replied: “Yes I am.”
Thomas Mair, the man accused of killing the MP Jo Cox has appeared again in court via video link. He spoke only to confirm his name.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) June 20, 2016
Mair, appearing from Belmarsh prison said, "Yes, I am," when asked his name. He was remanded in custody until next appearance on Thursday.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) June 20, 2016
He will appear at the same court for a preliminary hearing before Mr Justice Saunders at 10am on Thursday, the day of the EU referendum. There was no application for bail.
Updated
Enda Kenny, the Irish prime minister, has written an article for the Guardian explaining why Ireland is so keen for the UK to remain in the EU. Here’s an extract.
We share the UK’s only land border with another EU member state. Those many thousands of UK visitors to Ireland in recent years know that the border between both parts of Ireland is barely visible. There is a seamless flow of people crossing that border.
If the UK’s decision is to leave the EU, this will no longer be a border between two countries. It will be a border between the UK and the remaining 27 member states of the EU. It will be the EU’s western boundary running from Derry to Dundalk.
New administrative arrangements could be worked out, but there is no possible version of such a development that would avoid extra costs to governments, to business, to consumers and to the convenience of tourists and citizens travelling between our two countries.
What is not easy to quantify and mitigate is the psychological effect of a hardening border on the island. My fear is that it would play into an old narrative – one of division, isolation and difference.
And here is the full article.
I’m handing over now to my colleague Jessica Elgot.
Updated
Guto Bebb, a Welsh Office minister and a pro-Remain Tory, has used Twitter to accuse Vote Leave of running on a “Farage/BNP agenda”.
The Farage / BNP agenda embraced by those who should have known better. https://t.co/c3pBovdlpN
— Guto Bebb (@GutoBebb) June 20, 2016
Bebb is quoting this tweet.
Here's briefing Vote Leave gave Nick Watt saying they'd decided to switch to "core vote strategy" on immigration. https://t.co/0bE1qUfKbR
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) June 20, 2016
And David Cameron is out today campaigning for Remain with Harriet Harman, the former Labour deputy leader. These are from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
On the road with PM this morning - he and Harman together at series of factory visits in West Mids pic.twitter.com/7VN5Nqiqm6
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) June 20, 2016
Cameron looks more enthusiastic about the widget inspection than Harman pic.twitter.com/uKC3q13pF1
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) June 20, 2016
Priti Patel has been campaigning for Vote Leave this morning.
The Express newspaper, which has ‘splashed’ on anti-migration stories 34 times since the start of the year, has published a rare ‘clarification’ in which it admits it was wrong to claim on May 22 that “12m Turks Say They’ll Come to the UK.” Instead the paper has now admitted that the number who would come remains unknown.
The Express said in their clarification that the 12m headline had been “questioned by statisticians and readers alike”. It had been based on a poll by Konda, a Turkish research group, commissioned by the Express, which asked if they, or any members of their family, would consider moving to Britain if Turkey joined the EU and Britain remained a member.
“We accept that this question was flawed and that the results of the poll were inaccurate as a result,” said the Express’s clarification which now says that the question was open to interpretation and therefore could not be used to make a definite prediction of numbers.
“Our honest intent was to accurately find the number of people who were genuinely likely to move to Britain. However the figure remains unknown,” it concludes.
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has criticised Vote Leave for claiming that Brexit could allow the government to spend an extra £100m a week on the NHS. Speaking to the Royal College of Nursing congress in Glasgow, she said:
The claim that politicians leading the Leave campaign have made that they would spend more money on our NHS is surely one of the most deceitful and one of the most contemptible of all of the claims made.
Before you make your choice on Thursday, look at what the leaders of the Leave campaign really think about our NHS.
Boris Johnson wants patients to be charged for using the NHS, Michael Gove wanted privatisation, Nigel Farage wants the NHS funded by an insurance model rather than government funding.
Here’s a Guardian video with John Oliver’s take on the EU referendum.
Updated
Tusk says EU needs to take 'long, hard look' at why it is unpopular
Donald Tusk, president of the European council, has issued a direct appeal to British voters to remain in the EU. Speaking on a visit to Portugal, he said the whole Western world would become weaker if Britain voted for Brexit.
I would like to appeal to the British citizens, on behalf, I know that for a fact, of almost all Europeans and European leaders: Stay with us.
Without you, not only Europe, but the whole Western community will become weaker. Together, we will be able to cope with increasingly difficult challenges of the future.
Tusk will chair a summit of EU leaders in Brussels next week and he said they were prepared for what might happen.
In no way are we downplaying the economic costs that would accompany Brexit ... I have no doubt, however, that we are already prepared for the day after the referendum.
He also said it was important for European leaders to consider why voters were getting disillusioned with the EU, not just in Britain but across the continent too.
Whatever [the referendum] result is going to be, we must take a long, hard look on the future of the Union. We would be foolish if we ignored such a warning signal as the UK referendum. There are more signals of dissatisfaction with the Union coming from all of Europe, not only from the UK.
Oxfam have announced they will honour MP Jo Cox with an album of live music from this year’s Glastonbury festival, with all proceeds going to refugees. Artists including Coldplay, Muse, Foals, Sigur Ross and Fatboy Slim will each contribute a song recorded from their festival sets this weekend and the album will be released 11 July.
Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis paid tribute to Jo Cox as a “wonderful, inspiring woman who gave so much” and said the scale of the refugee crisis could not be ignored. “We want people who are far from home and frightened to know we are doing whatever we can to help,” said Eavis. “To know the artists who play here are doing whatever they can. To know the people who love their music are doing whatever they can.”
Welsh Labour grandees (plus a six-year-old dressed as a Ninja Turtle) took to the streets of Pontypridd to make the case for the UK to stay in the EU.
The Ninja was six-year-old Jaiden, grandson of former first minister Rhodri Morgan, who was touring the south Wales valleys with his successor, Carwyn Jones and former Welsh secretaries Peter Hain and Paul Murphy.
Rhodri Morgan on the campaign trail - with his grandson dressed as a Ninja Turtle. pic.twitter.com/ZojQJxDxFU
— steven morris (@stevenmorris20) June 20, 2016
There has been huge concern that this Labour heartland was going to vote out in huge numbers (as reflected in this piece from the Guardian’s Aditya Chakrabortty). But Hain, who is chair of the Labour In for Wales campaign, said he had noticed a shift over the last 10 days or so.
We’re focusing on getting the Labour vote out in areas like this. There’s a definite change of mood on the street. A few weeks ago it was quite pro leaving Europe. Now people are starting to really think with their heads and thinking, yes I’m worried about Europe but it’s much better to stay in for jobs, prosperity and also for stronger borders by c0-operating together.
Peter Hain on the campaign trail in the Welsh valleys - big Labour push here. pic.twitter.com/y9MmFUBXRc
— steven morris (@stevenmorris20) June 20, 2016
Peter Hain on the campaign trail in the south Wales valleys. https://t.co/RlAnfwVm6l
— steven morris (@stevenmorris20) June 20, 2016
The four politicians visited The Prince’s cafe, where owner Joe Gambarini said he would vote to remain. “The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know,” he said.
Gambarini, who is of Italian descent, suggested many of his customers would vote out. “They’re worried about being ruled by Brussels and frightened by immigration. I’m more frightened of leaving – and I’ve got brilliant workers from here from Poland and Hungary. They do a wonderful job.”
On the street the four made the case that the EU did a huge amount of good for towns like this, helping to fund projects like the pedestrianisation of the main drag and the bypass. First minister Jones said plans to improve the train lines in the area would simply halt on Friday if the UK votes to leave. “Our future as a confident country lies in the EU. Let’s work with others who share our values.”
Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones making the remain case in South Wales. pic.twitter.com/NC2BGUOFWl
— steven morris (@stevenmorris20) June 20, 2016
Of course, not all are convinced. Stan Jones, a builder, said he was voting out. “For me it’s about sovereignty and democracy. We don’t have control of our own destiny if we stay in the EU. I’m out.”
Updated
Here’s my colleague Roy Greenslade on why the Times changed its headline on its Sayeeda Warsi story. (See 9.35am.)
Updated
JK Rowling says referendum has been 'uglier' than any political campaign in her lifetime
JK Rowling, who is backing Remain, has written a fine essay on the EU referendum campaign on her website. It is worth reading in full, but here’s an excerpt to lure you in.
I’m not an expert on much, but I do know how to create a monster.
All enduring fictional bad guys encapsulate primal terrors and share certain traits. Invincible to the point of immortality, they commit atrocities without conscience and cannot be defeated by the ordinary man or by conventional means. Hannibal Lecter, Big Brother, and Lord Voldemort: all are simultaneously inhuman and superhuman and that is what frightens us most.
As this country has entered what will come to be seen as one of the most divisive and bitter political campaigns ever waged within its borders, I’ve thought a lot about the rules for creating villains. We are being asked whether we wish to remain part of the European Union and both sides of this campaign have been telling us stories. I don’t mean that in the sense of lying (although lies have certainly been told). I mean that they are appealing to us through our universal need to make sense of the world by storytelling and that they have not been afraid to conjure monsters calculated to stir up our deepest fears.
This is nothing new, of course. All political campaigns tell stories. They cast themselves as our champions, flatter us with tales of who we are or could be, sell us rose-tinted memories of the past and draw frightening pictures of the perils that lie ahead if we pick the wrong heroes. Nevertheless, the tales we have been told during this referendum have been uglier than any I can remember in my lifetime. If anyone has enjoyed this referendum, it can only be those hoping for greater personal power at the end of it.
Ford has written to all its 14,000 British employees saying that it has “deep concerns” about what might happen to the business if Britain votes to leave the EU and that Brexit could cost the company “hundreds of millions of dollars every year”, Sky’s Beth Rigby reports. Here’s the letter.
BREAK: #Ford writes 14k UK staff warning #Brexit. Says vote to leave could cost business hundreds of millions of $$$ pic.twitter.com/d8QIPOsjtb
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) June 20, 2016
A diplomatic spat between Ukip’s Douglas Carswell and Hungary’s prime minister has unfolded today, over the MP’s description of Viktor Orban as a member of the “extremist Jobbik”, who are a rival party.
The row followed a full-page advert taken out by Orban’s office in Monday’s Daily Mail, which urged UK voters to support remaining in the EU.
Orban, prime minister since 2010, is a member of the right-wing Fidesz party. Though Orban has been criticised by other EU nations for his party’s authoritarian and ethnic nationalist platform, Jobbik goes far further, a radical hard right party which is openly anti-semitic. Jobbik is seen as one of Orban’s party’s key rivals.
“Quite something that the extremist Jobbik party in Hungary wants us to Remain. You want political union w/ them?” Carswell tweeted, implying that the advert in the Mail, which was signed by Orban, was from the far-right party.
Zoltán Kovács, a spokesman for the prime minister’s office, called out the MP on Twitter. “I beleive [sic] you owe us an apology, Mr Carswell; ignorance is not a good advisor.”
@DouglasCarswell I beleive you owe us an apology, Mr Carswell; ignorance is not a good advisor.
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) June 20, 2016
Carswell has not yet responded.
With breathtaking timing the Office of National Statistics will release on Thursday morning their annual mid-year population estimates. These usually provoke headlines such as UK population grows by half a million fuelled by migration.
The timing is actually 12 months after last year’s figures were published and was announced long in advance before the referendum was called.
Updated
Lord Ashcroft, the polling specialist and former Conservative party deputy chairman, has been publishing the findings of focus group research on the EU referendum throughout the campaign. His final report went up today, and it is worth reading.
Here are two of the themes that emerged.
- Voters are taking the referendum seriously, and recognise the result is very important.
The closeness of the race is “the reason I can’t make my mind up. It’s a lot of responsibility, and I really want to get it right.” Still, most people were determined to do their democratic duty: “It means I’m more likely to try and make a decision. If one side was running away with it, I might let it pass me by;” “I usually think, if you haven’t got an opinion, don’t bother. But this is pretty big.” (Not everyone was so resolute: “My mum always said if you don’t know what to do, don’t do anything. I’ve lived by that.” How did you vote at the general election? “Liberal Democrat.”)
Accordingly, most thought Nigel Farage’s observation that people were using the referendum to “put two fingers up to the political class” was wide of the mark. However much some people agreed with the sentiment, especially after the referendum campaign, our groups felt there was too much at stake to use their vote just to make a point: “This is real life. It’s real money and it affects real people.”
- Some people are sceptical about whether a Brexit vote would actually lead to withdrawal.
“If we vote to come out, will we actually come out?” This was not an isolated question – several participants in more than one group wondered whether the government might somehow “wangle it” so Britain stayed in the EU in the event of a narrow Leave victory. “France and Germany might offer us something… I think they will try and negotiate again much better and we will have to do it again”. Was that really conceivable? It would not be the first time, some pointed out: “several northern cities voted against elected mayors but they’ve been told, ‘you’re going to have them’.” And after all, “if you can’t name a ship Boaty McBoatface when the people have spoken …
James Morris, the pollster who worked for Labour before the 2015 election, has posted three tweets this morning that may encourage Remain supporters.
1) BES & BMG found harder someone to contact, more likely they vote Remain. These ppl missing from most poll samples https://t.co/1OyjVpmVkK
— James Morris (@JamesDMorris) June 20, 2016
He is posting this tweet.
Fascinating analysis by @wonkeymike @kevcunningham: Remainers harder to reach. Is another polling miss on the cards? pic.twitter.com/vFNiE6Pd1n
— Will Jennings (@drjennings) June 18, 2016
2) There has been a 10 point increase in the proportion who think leaving will be bad for their finances. https://t.co/XmQADE11rm
— James Morris (@JamesDMorris) June 20, 2016
He is quoting this tweet.
Economy breakthrough for remain? 33% tell YouGov Brexit would make them worse off, up from 23% two weeks ago; 10% say better off, no change
— Peter Kellner (@PeterKellner1) June 19, 2016
3) People rank the economy well ahead of immigration in determining their vote https://t.co/UzUPBOSENI
— James Morris (@JamesDMorris) June 20, 2016
He is quoting this tweet.
What is important in helping decide how to vote in #EUref? ComRes for @Independent & @thesundaypeople pic.twitter.com/fCkyleDr1j
— John Rentoul (@JohnRentoul) June 18, 2016
Wouldnt be at all surprised if Remain do significantly better than their best final week poll.
— James Morris (@JamesDMorris) June 20, 2016
This is what will happen when the Commons gathers to pay tribute to Jo Cox this afternoon.
Unusually, Jeremy Corbyn will speak before David Cameron.
Jo Cox tributes at 2.30 will be led by Speaker, then Corbyn, Cameron and MPs, No 10 says
— Emily Ashton (@elashton) June 20, 2016
Among those who have been using Twitter to say that they did not know Sayeeda Warsi was ever a Leave supporter in the first place has been Tony Gallagher, editor of the Sun.
I had no idea Baroness Warsi was part of Leave campaign. None at all
— Tony Gallagher (@tonygallagher) June 19, 2016
Britain Stronger in Europe sources are pointing out that one of the papers that did identify her as in the Leave camp was, er, the Sun. On 7 June it called her a “Brexit-backer”. They say this is one of the articles that disproves what Nigel Farage was saying about Warsi’s conversion to Remain being bogus. (See 10.24am.) We posted another article identifying her as at one point a genuine Leave supporter earlier. (See 8.01am.)
Here is the picture Warsi herself posted on Twitter last year showing her speaking at an event alongside Matthew Elliott. Elliott is now chief executive of Vote Leave, although in August last year, when this picture was taken, he was running Business for Britain, the organisation that morphed into Vote Leave when it was founded two months later.
The conversation has started!#EUreferendum w/ @DanHannanMEP @NazShahBfd @matthew_elliott @AmjadBashirMEP #Manchester pic.twitter.com/TxbVooj40o
— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) August 17, 2015
Martin Fletcher, a former Times foreign correspondent, has written a very powerful critique of Boris Johnson on Facebook. It is worth reading in full.
A fascinating insight into #Brexit and Boris Johnson, by his former colleague. pic.twitter.com/ilXXrykvaK
— Alex Andreou (@sturdyAlex) June 18, 2016
Farage accuses Cameron of trying to exploit Jo Cox's death to help Remain
Here are more lines from Nigel Farage’s LBC phone-in.
- Farage accused David Cameron of trying to exploit the death of Jo Cox to help Remain. He said:
What we are seeing here is the prime minister and the Remain campaign trying to conflate the actions of one crazed individual with the motives of half of Britain who think we should get back control of our borders and do it sensibly. And I think that’s quite wrong the way it’s been done ...
I think there are Remain camp supporters out there who are using this tragic death to try to give the impression that this isolated, horrific incident is somehow linked to arguments that have been made by myself, or Michael Gove or anybody else in this campaign. And frankly that is wrong.
Asked if he was accusing Cameron of opportunism, he replied:
I think people are intelligent enough to make their minds up on that.
- He said the idea that Sayeeda Warsi had defected from Leave to Remain was “nonsense” and that the whole thing was a “the biggest put-up job” he had seen.
This is the biggest put-up job I’ve ever seen. Number 10 put the line out, the Times swallow it hook, line and sinker and the broadcasters start reporting it. Baroness Warsi has been consistently abusive about everything I’ve said and done, and Ukip’s said and done, for the last few years. And I heard her interviewed earlier on this morning where she said she was campaigning for a change of Britain’s relationship [with the EU]. She never supported Britain leaving in the first place. It’s utter nonsense. She never was [a supporter]. In fact, Dan Hannan, who’s a friend of hers, the Conservative MEP, he invited her to join Muslims for Britain, he invited her to speak on platforms, and she refused. It’s a non story.
Updated
Sayeeda Warsi has retweeted some of the vicious and racist tweets she has received since she announced she was backing Remain as examples of the “politics of hate”.
The vile reaction of people unhappy with my decision to leave #leave .Politics of hate must stop #uniteagainsthate pic.twitter.com/A86f4Dpyol
— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) June 20, 2016
Here’s a Guardian video with Richard Branson making the case for Remain.
The Times broke the story about Sayeeda Warsi last night, but it changed its front page after the first edition to tone down the headline. The second version is more accurate.
From turmoil and defection to division and walkout: how the Times rowed back on its Warsi scoop between editions pic.twitter.com/cXnf1b1UPF
— Matt Wells (@MatthewWells) June 20, 2016
Here is another quote from Sayeeda Warsi on the Today programme earlier explaining why she is now backing Remain. She said:
This kind of nudge-nudge, wink-wink xenophobic racist campaign may be politically savvy or politically useful in the short term, but it causes long-term damage to communities.
The vision that me and other Brexiters who have been involved right from the outset, who had a positive outward-looking vision of what a Brexit vote might mean, unfortunately those voices have now been stifled and what we see is the divisive campaign which has resulted in people like me and others who are deeply Eurosceptic and want to see a reformed relationship feel that they now have to leave Leave.
This is what John Longworth, the former director general of the British Chambers of Commerce and now a Vote Leave campaigner, told the Today programme in response to the news that the bosses of the car firms Toyota UK, Vauxhall, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW have backed Remain. Longworth said:
The auto industry is different from the rest of industry in the sense that it has a 10% tariff for cars from outside the EU.
The biggest power in the EU - Germany - exports way more cars to the UK than we do to them, so they are not going to allow the erection of tariffs because they would damage their own industry and shoot themselves in the foot.
Even if in a moment of madness they did, what’s the worst that can happen? German cars would become a little bit more expensive, we would buy a few less and would end up buying more British-produced cars.
Updated
Farage also repeated his claim that Sayeeda Warsi’s shift to Remain was a “put-up job”. He said that she had only ever called for a change in Britain’s relationship with the EU, not for full withdrawal. When Daniel Hannan, the Tory MEP, tried to get her to publicly back Leave, she refused, Farage said. (See 7.35am.)
On LBC Nigel Farage has just claimed that when he launched his “Breaking Point” poster on Thursday there was “no controversy at all”. He suggested it only became controversial after the killing of Jo Cox.
He is wrong. Before Cox was killed Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said the poster was “disgusting”. It was also condemned before the attack on Cox by the Green party and by Britain Stronger in Europe.
And on Twitter Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, claims that Sayeeda Warsi’s shift is a Downing Street-inspired stunt.
Baroness Warsi 'defection' is a typical Number 10 put-up job. She never wanted to leave the EU.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 20, 2016
Farage is now starting a half-hour phone-in on LBC.
Updated
Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Claire.
On Twitter the Tory Leave backlash against Sayeeda Warsi continues. Here are more tweets about her from Conservative MPs.
Surprised to hear that Baroness Warsi has so called defected to the in campaign; didn't realise she was #brexit. Never seen her do anything!
— Andrea Jenkyns MP (@andreajenkyns) June 19, 2016
I think it's fair to say that most people are wetting themselves laughing at the Warsi 'defection' that never is 😂 #VoteLeave
— Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorriesMP) June 19, 2016
Remember Sayeeda Warsi has a history of resigning.
— Michael Fabricant (@Mike_Fabricant) June 20, 2016
She quit the Government over Middle East policy.
From my experience working with her Sayeeda Warsi is self obsessed and never a team player. She's running out of things to flounce out of
— Stewart Jackson MP (@Stewart4Pboro) June 20, 2016
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has been on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme this morning.
She dismissed the suggestion that there was any contradiction between her positions on the independence referendum in 2014 and the EU referendum:
That argument rests on the assumption that Scotland in the UK is somehow the same as the UK in Europe.
She also insisted that the SNP has been “an enthusiastic campaigner for Scotland and the UK to remain in Europe”, despite criticisms that their campaign has been lukewarm at best.
She added that her message to supporters who saw this referendum as a means of triggering a second independence referendum was clear: vote remain.
What I’ve also said to independence supporters is that if they are making a judgment on what makes a second independence referendum more likely, that will only arise if Scotland is taken out of the EU against its will.
Asked about her view on Turkey’s membership of the EU, she said it was “pie in the sky” that the country was in a position to join and that this was “one of the serious dishonest its at the heart of the Leave campaign”:
I don’t see a situation arising in the near future where I would welcome Turkey joining the EU.
The London stock market is rallying this morning, as investors react to the opinion polls showing the Remain campaign regaining ground.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index has jumped by 134 points, or over 2%, during Nigel Farage’s interview.
That’s its highest level in 10 days, recovering the losses it suffered after polls put the Leave campaign ahead.
Bank shares are leading the rally, with Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group both up 6%. Financial stocks had suffered recently from fears that Britain’s economy would suffer a Brexit-shock of the public vote to leave.
The pound has hit a two-week high this morning; up two cents against the US dollar to $1.4591.
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets believe that the polls show a “pull to the status-quo’.
Our business liveblog has more details:
Farage said the playing-out of the campaign had obscured the reason behind it:
This referendum is almost becoming as if there’s a manifesto on one side and a manifesto on the other side … We lose what this referendum is really all about …
This comes down to one thing: confidence. Do we believe we’re good enough to run our own country?
If Britain votes to stay, he said, it would still beckon the end of the EU:
If this proposition gets rejected, we will not be the first country to leave the European Union: the Danes or the Swedes or the Dutch will beat us to it.
Farage did not seem concerned at negative reactions to the poster:
Even discussing immigration for some people is deeply offensive … but the point is this we’re members of a political union that is failing.
He would prefer to see net migration at around 30,000-50,000 people, he told the BBC, with flexible work permits to cope with shortages in the labour market.
Brexit would not be a huge shock to the economy, Farage insisted:
I would accept that economically its about even-steven.
I know how trade works and what makes it happen … The negotiation with Europe is very, very simple: we are your biggest trading partner in the world, you need us more than we need you.
No deal is better than the deal we currently have.
Updated
Nigel Farage Today programme interview
Nigel Farage is now on the Today programme to talk about, among other things, that anti-immigration poster. He denied it was misleading:
This poster, which shows what happened in Europe … after Mrs Merkel made one of the most irresponsible decisions in modern times.
He was bullish when pressed on the fact that Britain’s exemption from Schengen rules meant none of the refugees pictured in the image would be coming to the UK:
The EU is failing us all … there’s been too little debate in this referendum about this issue.
Why would we wish to be a member of the union … where fences are going up everywhere … Why would we want to be part of this failing club?
I didn’t invent the picture – that picture was real … This poster was designed for the day. It was unfortunate timing that within a couple of hours this terrible tragic murder took place.
Updated
Sky News political editor Faisal Islam points out – further to the tweets in my morning briefing below – that Warsi had previously made plain her support for Britain leaving the EU.
Yorkshire Post article where Warsi confirmed support for Brexit. Low key, yes, but a clear lie to say she did not.. https://t.co/CBdyb8hpE7
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) June 20, 2016
The Yorkshire Post article, from May this year, reads:
Baroness Warsi of Dewsbury, who made history in 2010 when she became the first Muslim to serve in the Cabinet, declined to comment on the tone of the referendum campaign.
However the peer, who resigned in 2014, did confirm that she was supporting Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Historian Antony Beevor writes in the Guardian today that should Britain vote to leave, “we will instantly achieve most-hated nation status, not just in Europe but far beyond”. And he argues that those casting their votes ought to know more about the birth of the European Union and Jean Monnet, one of its founding fathers:
The origins of the EU lie in the second world war, but not in the way many people on both sides of the debate assume. Brexiters try to imply that European unification descends from Napoleon and Hitler, even though membership has hardly been imposed at the point of a bayonet. At the same time, defenders of the EU like to believe that it somehow prevented a third world war, when in fact peace depends rather more on good governance. Proper democracies do not fight each other.
Because Britain was not involved at the start we do not have a clear idea of the EU’s development. Few in this country have even heard of Jean Monnet. He was an extraordinarily important Frenchman who neither went to university nor was ever elected to public office. Born into a family of cognac merchants, Monnet became the greatest behind-the-scenes fixer in modern history.
Read more/do your cramming here:
Responding to the leave campaign’s attempts to play down Warsi’s previous commitment to their side, she said some comments – such as this tweet from Tory MEP Daniel Hannan – were “disingenous”.
When I invited Sayeeda Warsi to join the Leave campaign, she declined. Fair enough, obviously. But how is this a "defection"?
— Daniel Hannan (@DanHannanMEP) June 19, 2016
The vision that we must present for Brexit … the loud voices should be from moderates who believe Britain has a place in the world.
She said she had had a “clear conversation” with Vote Leave director Dominic Cummings:
I said I had concerns that people were taking the Vote Leave message down a path I was not comfortable with … Those moderate voices have now been stifled …
People like me who are deeply eurosceptic feel like they now have to leave Leave.
Updated
Warsi added that politicians “should not be part of an environmnet of hate”, saying the message from leave campaigners had become one of “the rapists are coming, the Turks are coming”.
The Ukip “Breaking Point” poster unveiled by Nigel Farage last week had indeed been a breaking point for her, she said:
How is that poster even defensible? … It is perpetuating lies about who those people are.
She linked it to a wider culture of “divisive, toxic politics”, including the campaign run by fellow Conservative Zac Goldsmith in his failed bid to beat Sadiq Khan to the London mayoralty. Warsi said it was a “relief that campaign did not succeed”.
Warsi also pointed the finger at Michael Gove, labelling his comments on Turkey “a lie”:
To suggest that Turkey is on the verge of joining the EU … they applied decades ago … To suggest that this is somehow imminent was a lie.
She described the tone of the discussion on Turkey as:
This othering of the community … to try and suggest that there is a link between criminality and Turkish communities – it is scaremongering.
Updated
Warsi spoke in more detail on the Today programme about her decision to come out in favour of remain, having been a leave supporter (if not, some prominent Brexiteers are saying this morning) a particularly vocal campaigner.
She told Radio 4:
To wake up on Sunday morning … to hear both Michael Gove continue to repeat the lies on Turkish accession to the EU … and Nigel Farage defend his indefensible poster … [it was] impossible to continue supporting leave.
She denied that she had not been a supporter of Brexit, saying she had been working to bring different communities into the debate on Britain’s future in – or outside – the EU:
I was making the case to leave long before Vote Leave had ever been formally established.
The last time I openly spoke for Brexit was about five weeks ago.
Warsi added that she last “did media” for Brexit four weeks ago but had increasingly felt uncomfortable about the tone of the debate:
The vision we needed to present was ‘hello worlders’, an optimistic vision … But unfortunately day after say what we are seeing are lies and xenophobia.
She described herself as someone “instinctively eurosceptic … now feeling we have to leave Leave”.
Baroness Warsi on the Today programme
Sayeeda Warsi has just been speaking on the Today programme. I’ll put up a fuller summary imminently, but she has responded to those Brexit campaigners who are saying she was never really for leave:
The last time I openly spoke for Brexit was about five weeks ago.
She said she had been concerned about the direction of the campaign:
Those moderate voices have now been stifled … People like me who are deeply eurosceptic feel like they now have to leave leave.
Updated
Morning briefing
Welcome to the final week of the EU referendum campaign, with our daily live blog ready to take you through the hours until we learn whether Britain will stay or go.
In a campaign darkened by the killing of MP Jo Cox, and on a day when politicians from across the spectrum return to Westminster to remember her, in many ways – though perhaps not all – this can’t be politics as usual.
The regular morning briefing should set you up for the day ahead and I’ll then be steering the live blog until Andrew Sparrow takes his seat. Do come and chat in the comments below or find me on Twitter @Claire_Phipps.
The big picture
Conservative peer Sayeeda Warsi has quit the leave campaign, accusing her colleague and leading Brexiteer Michael Gove of spreading “complete lies about Turkey’s accession to the EU”.
But it was Nigel Farage and the unofficial leave side’s anti-immigration poster campaign – unveiled last week to a gasp of criticism – that pushed the former Tory party chairwoman to remain, she tells the Times:
That ‘breaking point’ poster really was – for me – the breaking point to say, I can’t go on supporting this.
Are we prepared to tell lies, to spread hate and xenophobia just to win a campaign? For me that’s a step too far.
But some leave campaigners expressed … let’s say bafflement at the announcement:
Been part of the leave campaign from start. I had no idea that @SayeedaWarsi was part of the leave campaign. News to all of us me thinks.
— Nadhim Zahawi (@nadhimzahawi) June 19, 2016
I helped set up @vote_leave and she has not been at a single meeting I have attended. "defects" just not accurate! https://t.co/hnaoXv9y5T
— Bernard Jenkin (@bernardjenkin) June 19, 2016
However, although it seems clear Warsi was never driving that Vote Leave battlebus, she had expressed pro-Brexit views before the defection came to light:
For those of us committed to @vote_leave this unholy alliance between small minded little islanders & optimistic hello worlders is a strain!
— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) June 7, 2016
And ITV News’ Chris Ship points out that Warsi made the case for leave at an event in August 2015:
. @chrisshipitv , it was a great event. The early days of the campaign when the moderates were making the case for #Brexit
— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) June 19, 2016
The news will no doubt be welcomed by David Cameron, who conceded in a one-on-one Question Time with David Dimbleby last night that a more positive case for remain still needed to be made:
I’ve got four days to go. I want to do better at getting this argument across.
To me, it comes down to a simple point about the economy, but also what sort of country do we want to be? I want to be a country that does want to work with others. What I’ve learned in six years is that there is no problem in the world that isn’t better addressed with your allies, your friends and your neighbours.
The themes – for those who follow the spirals of this campaign – were familiar:
- there is no “silver bullet” on immigration, and that figure of tens of thousands for net migration is an “ambition” and not, in the manifesto sense, a target.
- the prime minister isn’t a quitter and neither is Britain.
- Turkish accession to the EU is not an imminent challenge.
- Isis would really rather relish a Brexit.
-
George Osborne’s emergency/punishment (delete according to personal view) budget would be a painful necessity.
Check out Andrew Sparrow’s summary of Cameron’s interview here, and the verdict of a panel of Guardian columnists here.
Cameron, of course, also spoke about the killing of Jo Cox, in whose memory MPs will return to parliament today for a special session. He told the BBC:
I think the most important thing for the politicians is to remember what [Cox] was all about, which was service, community, tolerance. These are values we should all try to live by and promote, in order to remember her.
I don’t think we know why exactly this happened or what the motivation was and we have to wait for the police investigation before we do that.
But I think what we do know is wherever we see intolerance, hatred, division, we should try and drive it out of our communities, out of our public life.
Speeches in the Commons will begin at 2.30pm and will, of course, be covered in this live blog.
It has emerged that Cox was working on a report about attacks on Muslims before her death. A memorial fund for charities she supported has now surpassed £800,000.
Thomas Mair, the man accused of murdering Cox, appears in court again today.
You should also know:
- Ten of the world’s leading economists have issued a warning about the consequences of the UK leaving the EU. In a letter to the Guardian, they say “the economic arguments are clearly in favour of remaining in the EU”.
- UK car industry bosses back remain – and so does Premier League chairman Richard Scudamore.
- Channel 4 News was barred from a Vote Leave rally because it was “oversubscribed”. Read John Crace’s sketch instead.
- Richard Branson has started his own campaign to keep Britain in the EU.
- And in case you missed it: how the Sunday newspapers think their readers ought to vote.
Poll position
The weekend polls – some of which were carried out after Jo Cox was killed – have shown a gentle swing back towards remain. We can’t know why that is. So I’ll just deal with the numbers here:
- A Sunday Times/YouGov poll had remain on 44% and leave on 43%.
- An Opinium/Observer poll put both campaigns on 44%.
- A Survation poll for the Mail on Sunday had remain ahead, by 45% to 42%.
- A UK-wide BMG poll for the Herald showed a bigger gap, with remain up to 53.3% and leave on 46.7%.
- A Comres poll for the Independent didn’t ask those surveyed how they would vote – but 44% said they would be “delighted” if the UK voted to leave the EU, with only 28% saying they’d celebrate a vote to stay with the same fervour.
The FT poll of polls now pegs remain and leave on 44% apiece.
And as for the rest of the EU? As my colleague Philip Oltermann reports, most would like the UK to remain – but only just:
The survey of 10,992 European citizens, carried out by Germany’s Bertelsmann Foundation, shows that while a majority of continental Europeans across all age groups are in favour of Britain remaining a member of the EU, the support is not overwhelmingly high, at 54%.
The (hardline right-wing, anti-immigration) prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, is certainly more than lukewarm on Britain’s UK membership, if this full-page ad in today’s Daily Mail is anything to go by:
Hungary takes out a full page advert in the Daily Mail.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) June 19, 2016
Will France, Germany and the rest follow? pic.twitter.com/LOx0c2Lmk7
Diary
- The Ukip leave battle-bus heads to Manchester.
- Tributes to Jo Cox begin in parliament at 2.30pm, followed by a memorial service at St Margaret’s church.
- At 6pm Jeremy Corbyn follows in the footsteps of Cameron and Gove with a Sky News interview and audience Q&A.
- At 7pm the Guardian hosts its own referendum debate: Tim Farron, Andy Burnham and Caroline Lucas for remain face Chris Grayling, Daniel Hannan and John Mann for leave. Guardian political editor Anushka Asthana chairs.
- At 7.30pm Nigel Farage attends a Ukip rally in Gateshead.
Read these
In what is probably a first, the Telegraph thinks the Labour leader is “absolutely right” on something:
Jeremy Corbyn has faults almost too numerous to count, but, in one regard at least, dishonesty is not among them. Interviewed about Britain’s place in the European Union and the immigration that stems from it, Mr Corbyn was asked about the limit on European immigration that some of his party colleagues have recently suggested. ‘I don’t think you can have one while you have the free movement of labour,’ he replied. He was absolutely right.
Parvathi Menon in the Hindu wonders what Brexit will mean for India – and for Indian people living in the UK:
India remains deeply vested in the outcome of the referendum for two reasons. The first concerns the welfare of a nearly three-million strong diaspora of Indian-origin UK citizens, while the second concerns the interests of a large moving population of Indians who come to Britain ever year as tourists, business people, professionals, students, spouses, parents and relatives.
Will Brexit change the rules of doing business, or of access to higher education? Further, will it create new barriers for work visas or the visitation rights of relatives who have families here?
Steven Erlanger in the New York Times says EU countries are “preparing to retaliate” in the event of a vote to leave:
If Britons do vote in a referendum on Thursday to leave the European Union, they can expect a tough and unforgiving response, with capitals across the Continent intent on deterring other countries from following the British example, European officials and analysts said. In other words, Britain will be made to suffer for its choice …
Suggestions by British politicians favoring a departure that the rest of the European Union will give Britain more favorable terms in a new trading arrangement will be rejected out of hand by European leaders, who do not want to make further concessions to a country that has rejected them, officials said. This would ensure that the British example discouraged others tempted to seek a special deal for themselves.
The day in a tweet
Jo loved camping. Last night the kids & I camped in her memory& remembered the last time we were all woken by the dawn chorus #MoreInCommon
— Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) June 19, 2016
And another thing
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