By Gwynne Dyer - After months in which opinion polls showed a six to ten percentage points lead for the 'Remain' side in the referendum campaign on continued British membership of the European Union (EU), the numbers have suddenly shifted in favor of 'Leave'.
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne says he will have to slash public spending and increase taxes in an emergency Budget to tackle a £30bn black hole if the UK votes to leave the European Union. The chancellor will say this could include raising income and inheritance taxes and cutting the NHS budget.
UK exit from the European Union would be “a disaster” that would risk creating “an economic and social rift” between Gibraltar and the neighbouring region in Spain, the Cross-Frontier Group said in a report published by the Gibraltar Chronicle. The group’s president, Ángel Serrano, warned that Brexit posed a serious risk to employment and investment on both sides of the border.
The British pound dropped to a two-month low and the yen rallied Monday as jittery investors shifted into safer assets on worries about Britain's possible exit from the European Union. The flight to lower-yielding investments came as Asian stock markets plunged, with dealers awaiting meetings this week of the US and Japanese central banks.
Swiss wealth managers said Friday they would expect an influx of funds from skittish international investors if British voters choose to leave the European Union in a June 23 referendum. Participants in a seminar organized by the Swiss Private Bankers Association (SPBA) in Geneva voiced concern about what the implications would be if a Brexit is voted through in a referendum on June 23.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned Friday that if Britain voted to leave the European Union, it wouldn't have access to the single market like non-members Norway and Switzerland do.
Conservative member of the European Parliament, MEP, Julie Girling has rubbished suggestions by the Acting Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, that Gibraltar will have to contemplate a joint UK/Spain sovereignty arrangement in the event of a Leave vote in the European Union referendum.
United Stated Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said a UK vote to leave the European Union could have significant economic repercussions. In a speech this week, she said a Brexit was one factor that the central bank would consider when deciding whether to raise interest rates. The Fed next meets on 14-15 June.
Former foreign secretary William Hague said that if Britain votes to leave the European Union, the Falkland Islands sovereignty could be put at risk, while Gibraltar would left in a very difficult position. The statement was published this week by The Telegraph in an article under the heading: Brexit would put the Falkland Islands' sovereignty at risk
The campaign for Britain to leave the European Union has taken a 4-5 percentage point lead ahead of a June 23 referendum, according to online polls by ICM and YouGov, sending sterling towards three-week lows against the U.S. dollar.