by Samuel Dale

What has Remain been doing? The campaign to keep Britain in the EU has been spinning around like a Catherine Wheel in the last few days.

Some of this is down to effective campaigning from Vote Leave. After months of focusing on nonsense like sovereignty and weak economic arguments, they have started to focus on the only topic they can: immigration.

They are running advert after advert on Turkey becoming a member of the EU by 2020 and millions of Turks (or, nudge, nudge, hint, hint: Muslims) coming to the UK.  Total lies and nasty smears but effective campaigning and the only message that resonates for them.

But Remain’s initial response to this aggressive shift and a few worrying polls has been bonkers.

Instead of ramming home it’s winning economic arguments it left the floor to Gordon Brown to waffle on about global peace and influence.

And instead of simply ignoring immigration – which it absolutely must at this late stage – it has left Labour to talk about a future deal or renegotiation. Or even a Scotland-style Vow on controls.

This is madness. Whatever could have been done to lance the immigration boil – whether more EU concessions or positive campaigning for immigrants – it is too late now.

It’s the economy v immigration. That’s it. And any day we are talking about the economy is a boost and any day we are not, is a failure.

I don’t want to hear another single word about immigration from anyone who wants Britain to remain in the EU.

Any alternative message has already been made and we’re in the home straight. Where’s Lynton Crosby when you need some message disciple?

All I want to hear is warnings about the economy and how leaving will make the every individual in Britain poorer. Project Fear turned up to 1000.

More than £100bn has been wiped over FTSE stocks in the last week as the fear of Brexit rattles markets to its very core. That means your pension has shrunk. It has actually shrunk. That’s not fearmongering, it is real.

Sterling has plummeted on Brexit fears. That means your summer holiday will be more expensive and any imported food is already more expensive. Not fearmongering but reality. Happening right now.

That is just the fear of Brexit that is having a damaging impact on our wallets. Can you imagine how markets would react if we actually vote for an exit on June 23?

The Institute of Fiscal Studies says Brexit means a £40bn black hole in public finances every year. That means NHS cuts, tax rises and an end to the state pension triple lock.

The country would be plunged into a deep recession, according to the Treasury. The Bank of England and European Central Bank said they would deploy emergency economic measures.

Let’s put the case as simply as we possibly can. Vote Leave has no economic answers at all. It is the equivalent of the currency question in the Scottish referendum.

Mortgage costs, taxes and food prices will go up. House prices, pensions, jobs and wages will go down. We’ll be plunged into recession.

Repeat after me.

Mortgage costs, taxes and food prices will go up. House prices, pensions, jobs and wages will go down. We’ll be plunged into recession.

If Britain votes to leave the EU then everyone will be poorer. You personally will have less money. Repeat again and again.

Thankfully, there are signs that the campaign has got a grip. George Osborne’s move to quantify the cost to families by talking about a future Brexit budget of tax rises and spending cuts is shifting the debate back to where it needs to be: the economy.

This is a tough fight. There is a Eurosceptic electorate and a supportive media but it is winnable.

I don’t want to see anyone answering any questions on immigration from Remain until the referendum date.

Ignore it completely and focus entirely on the economic catastrophe that Brexit will cause. A self-inflicted recession. Economic mayhem. Everyone in Britain with less money in their pocket.

It’s always the economy, stupid. The economy. The economy. The economy. Everyone on the Remain side, particularly Labour, need to remember that.

Sam Dale is a financial and political journalist

Tags: economy, EU referendum, George Osborne, immigration, Remain, Samuel Dale, Stronger In, Vote Leave

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 15th, 2016 at 12:42 pm and is filed under Uncut. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.