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Version 15 Version 16
EU referendum live: VAT could rise 2% under Tory Brexit budget, Labour says EU referendum live: VAT could rise 2% under Tory Brexit budget, Labour says
(35 minutes later)
4.28pm BST
16:28
Farage says the behaviour of universities in the referendum campaign has been “deplorable”. There are over 200 Monnet chairs. That means they get money from the EU.
He says we should be encouraging as many foreign students as possible to come to the UK to study here.
4.25pm BST
16:25
Q: How would we make up the deficit of key workers, especially in the NHS?
Farage says it is shameful that two thirds of people who want to train as nurser are turned away.
And then we should have work permits for foreigners coming here to work, as 200 other countries in the world do.
4.22pm BST
16:22
Farage says he wants to have a united country where race and religion is deemed irrelevant.
Q: You should come to Brighton. People are integrated.
Farage says it is different in places like Oldham or Peterborough, which are not integrated.
Q: What is the plan if we leave?
Farage says the plan is simple. We vote to leave and get rid of “dishonest Dave”. We need a Brexit prime minister. Then we go to Brussels and negotiate a “sensible, amicable divorce”. Even if we don’t get a trade deal, it will still be better than what we have.
And if people don’t like the government, they can vote to change it.
4.15pm BST
16:15
Q: People have been kicked out of your party for saying racist things. Don’t say it is just people coming back from the party after one too many drinks.
Farage says people who have said racist or anti-semitic things have been kicked out. In Labour people get re-admitted.
4.14pm BST
16:14
Nigel Farage at BuzzFeed
Nigel Farage is taking part in the BuzzFeed event now.
He says there is a simple choice: do we want to run our own affairs or not. He says got the big M - momentum.
Q: I am embarrassed to tell people I am voting Leave, because people think you are a racist. Are you to blame for that?
Farage says he is guilty of making this an issue. When he went on Question Time in 2000, he was the first person in 20 years on that programme to say Britain should leave the EU.
He says in any walk of life, if you take on the establishment, people will abuse you. In 2014, when his party started to rise in the poll, there was an attempt to depict them as racist. None of that was true.
The party has been demonised.
Q: There is a long record of Ukip people saying abusive things.
Farage says in 20014, there were cases of Ukip people coming home from the pub and posting abusive things online. Over the same period there were 200 people from other parties found guilty of serious crimes.
4.07pm BST
16:07
According to the Sun, the Tory MP Bernard Jenkin has written to David Cameron saying that he is appalled that Cameron allowed Amber Rudd, the energy secretary, to attack Boris Johnson in the way that she did in last night’s debate. It is taken for granted that she would not have said what she did if it had not been approved by Cameron and George Osborne. (ConservativeHome’s Paul Goodman says today: “The voice was the voice of the climate change secretary. But the hands looked like those of friends of the chancellor.”)
Jenkin told the Sun:
This was a sanctioned, personal vilification supported by the prime minister. I am absolutely appalled.
There have been one or two silly things said by both sides in this campaign.
But it’s absolutely suicidal for the party to behave like this, for the leader of our party to behave like this. It is not what most Conservatives are.
3.54pm BST3.54pm BST
15:5415:54
And here are some of the highlights from Nicola Sturgeon’s appearance at the BuzzFeed town hall event. At the end she had 61% of the studio audience liking her, and 36% opposed.And here are some of the highlights from Nicola Sturgeon’s appearance at the BuzzFeed town hall event. At the end she had 61% of the studio audience liking her, and 36% opposed.
"I don't like negative campaigning," Sturgeon says on accusations of Project Fear, adding: "I don't think it treats people with respect.""I don't like negative campaigning," Sturgeon says on accusations of Project Fear, adding: "I don't think it treats people with respect."
"Don't take the decision about the future of the UK on a grievance or your thoughts about the SNP or me," replies Sturgeon."Don't take the decision about the future of the UK on a grievance or your thoughts about the SNP or me," replies Sturgeon.
Nicola Sturgeon says it's "possible" that Scotland could keep England inside the EU against it's will.Nicola Sturgeon says it's "possible" that Scotland could keep England inside the EU against it's will.
"I'm not going to stand here and start to criticise other politicians," says Sturgeon after being asked if Cameron is mishandling Remain."I'm not going to stand here and start to criticise other politicians," says Sturgeon after being asked if Cameron is mishandling Remain.
Invited to describe herself as a "unionist" in the EU referendum, Nicola Sturgeon instead plumps for "Europhile"... pic.twitter.com/KnpsPirIjXInvited to describe herself as a "unionist" in the EU referendum, Nicola Sturgeon instead plumps for "Europhile"... pic.twitter.com/KnpsPirIjX
"If there's a Leave vote we would not automatically get more powers in the Scottish parliament," says Sturgeon."If there's a Leave vote we would not automatically get more powers in the Scottish parliament," says Sturgeon.
Sturgeon asked if she'll be supporting England at the Euros? "I hope all the home nations will do really well." ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/zwPOz8bmXTSturgeon asked if she'll be supporting England at the Euros? "I hope all the home nations will do really well." ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/zwPOz8bmXT
3.45pm BST3.45pm BST
15:4515:45
On the World at One the Labour MP Clive Lewis said that politicians and the public needed to have an “honest conversation” about immigration. He acknowledged that people had legitimate concerns about it, but he said it was also important to recognise that Europe needed immigrants because of its ageing population.On the World at One the Labour MP Clive Lewis said that politicians and the public needed to have an “honest conversation” about immigration. He acknowledged that people had legitimate concerns about it, but he said it was also important to recognise that Europe needed immigrants because of its ageing population.
And he criticised some papers and politicians for whipping up hysteria on the subject.And he criticised some papers and politicians for whipping up hysteria on the subject.
This is the analogy I would use; if a politician and a newspaper collude and say ‘let’s publicly say an asteroid is going to hit the planet’, do you blame the person who goes out running around saying ‘the end of the world is nigh’? No, you don’t, it’s not their fault, it’s the people that are lying to people, covering their backsides, as to what the issues of immigration are. The reason people are concerned about immigration is partly because of the hysteria that some politicians and newspapers are whipping up on this.This is the analogy I would use; if a politician and a newspaper collude and say ‘let’s publicly say an asteroid is going to hit the planet’, do you blame the person who goes out running around saying ‘the end of the world is nigh’? No, you don’t, it’s not their fault, it’s the people that are lying to people, covering their backsides, as to what the issues of immigration are. The reason people are concerned about immigration is partly because of the hysteria that some politicians and newspapers are whipping up on this.
3.29pm BST3.29pm BST
15:2915:29
And here is Lord Mandelson, the former Labour business secretary and Britain Stronger in Europe campaigner, commenting on what Wolfgang Schäuble said. (See 3.25pm.) Mandelsons said:And here is Lord Mandelson, the former Labour business secretary and Britain Stronger in Europe campaigner, commenting on what Wolfgang Schäuble said. (See 3.25pm.) Mandelsons said:
This finally knocks on the head the Leave campaign’s claim that we can leave the EU and still enjoy the benefits of the single market. We cannot leave the club and continue to use its facilities.This finally knocks on the head the Leave campaign’s claim that we can leave the EU and still enjoy the benefits of the single market. We cannot leave the club and continue to use its facilities.
Being outside the single market would be a hammer blow to the UK economy. Our future trade will be hit and our manufacturing sector, which relies on the single market’s free movement of goods and people, will be at risk.Being outside the single market would be a hammer blow to the UK economy. Our future trade will be hit and our manufacturing sector, which relies on the single market’s free movement of goods and people, will be at risk.
This is the cold reality of Brexit that the British people must face. If we leave we lose the economic gains of being the world’s largest free trade zone, putting jobs and livelihoods at risk.This is the cold reality of Brexit that the British people must face. If we leave we lose the economic gains of being the world’s largest free trade zone, putting jobs and livelihoods at risk.
3.25pm BST3.25pm BST
15:2515:25
Vote Leave has responded to Wolfgang Schäuble, the German finance minister, saying that the UK would not have access to the single market if it left the EU. This is from Matthew Elliott, its chief executive.Vote Leave has responded to Wolfgang Schäuble, the German finance minister, saying that the UK would not have access to the single market if it left the EU. This is from Matthew Elliott, its chief executive.
There is no question about it, Britain will still have access to the Single Market after we vote Leave. It would be perverse of the eurozone to try to create artificial barriers - and would do far more damage to them than to anyone else.There is no question about it, Britain will still have access to the Single Market after we vote Leave. It would be perverse of the eurozone to try to create artificial barriers - and would do far more damage to them than to anyone else.
Elliott is using a different defintion of access.Elliott is using a different defintion of access.
Vote Leave has said it does not want the UK to be a full member of the single market. It does not want the UK to have to follow all the single market’s regulatory rules and allow free movement of labour, as EU member states that are full members of the single market have to do. But it still expects the UK to be able to sell goods into the single market.Vote Leave has said it does not want the UK to be a full member of the single market. It does not want the UK to have to follow all the single market’s regulatory rules and allow free movement of labour, as EU member states that are full members of the single market have to do. But it still expects the UK to be able to sell goods into the single market.
And Schäuble is not saying the UK would not be able to sell goods to Germany. He is saying the EU would not want to allow the UK to retain all the advantages of being a full member of the single market. Vote Leave does not want this, but Schäuble’s comment may have been prompted by reports that, if the UK does vote to leave, MPs may try to insist on retaining full single market membership as the legislation for withdrawal is going through parliament.And Schäuble is not saying the UK would not be able to sell goods to Germany. He is saying the EU would not want to allow the UK to retain all the advantages of being a full member of the single market. Vote Leave does not want this, but Schäuble’s comment may have been prompted by reports that, if the UK does vote to leave, MPs may try to insist on retaining full single market membership as the legislation for withdrawal is going through parliament.
3.04pm BST3.04pm BST
15:0415:04
Ashdown says Leave campaign has approach to sovereignty that is 100 years out of dateAshdown says Leave campaign has approach to sovereignty that is 100 years out of date
Paddy Ashdown, the former Lib Dem leader, gave a speech on the EU referendum this morning. Here are two extracts.Paddy Ashdown, the former Lib Dem leader, gave a speech on the EU referendum this morning. Here are two extracts.
The Brexit case is 100 years out of date. They think that sovereignty still lies, unchanged, where it lay at the height of the British Empire, safely cocooned and protected in the institutions of Whitehall. They say they want to take their country back – that’s right – back 100 years to an age which is long past and has little relevance to global the realities of today ...The Brexit case is 100 years out of date. They think that sovereignty still lies, unchanged, where it lay at the height of the British Empire, safely cocooned and protected in the institutions of Whitehall. They say they want to take their country back – that’s right – back 100 years to an age which is long past and has little relevance to global the realities of today ...
Here is the truth the Brexiteers refuse to accept: There is now more power to affect the lives of British citizens, lying outside our national institutions and beyond our borders, than lying within them.Here is the truth the Brexiteers refuse to accept: There is now more power to affect the lives of British citizens, lying outside our national institutions and beyond our borders, than lying within them.
We used to be able to divide politics between domestic and foreign. This is now no longer possible.We used to be able to divide politics between domestic and foreign. This is now no longer possible.
There is no domestic question that can today be resolved within our domestic institutions alone; not crime, not health, not jobs, not security, not prosperity, not the environment, not transport, not agriculture, not fisheries, not immigration. Good outcomes on all these - and many more - are best secured – indeed only secured – by working effectively, not just nationally, but internationally with those who share our interest.There is no domestic question that can today be resolved within our domestic institutions alone; not crime, not health, not jobs, not security, not prosperity, not the environment, not transport, not agriculture, not fisheries, not immigration. Good outcomes on all these - and many more - are best secured – indeed only secured – by working effectively, not just nationally, but internationally with those who share our interest.
We act as though immigration is a new challenge. It is not. Vast movements of population ahead of war and pestilence and plague has always been with us. Churchill called us the “mongrel nation”, made up as we are of Angles and Saxons and Danes and Vikings and Huguenots and Jews and Ugandan Asians and West Indians and the new wave of migrants from eastern Europe. And that is what has shaped our national character.We act as though immigration is a new challenge. It is not. Vast movements of population ahead of war and pestilence and plague has always been with us. Churchill called us the “mongrel nation”, made up as we are of Angles and Saxons and Danes and Vikings and Huguenots and Jews and Ugandan Asians and West Indians and the new wave of migrants from eastern Europe. And that is what has shaped our national character.
And by the way London is the mongrel city – which is one of the reasons why it is the world’s only successful mega-city.And by the way London is the mongrel city – which is one of the reasons why it is the world’s only successful mega-city.
Migration is not a new fact. It is an age old one.Migration is not a new fact. It is an age old one.
Mass movement of people is the new normal – the new global strategic challenge of our time. It is not temporary and it is not time limited and, with global warming, it is only going to increase ...Mass movement of people is the new normal – the new global strategic challenge of our time. It is not temporary and it is not time limited and, with global warming, it is only going to increase ...
We will either deal with the new global challenge of migration as a European region together, or we will not deal with it. And we will either deal with it using our humanity, or we will be forced to do it with barbed wire and truncheons – and that way comes, not to more peace, but more conflict.We will either deal with the new global challenge of migration as a European region together, or we will not deal with it. And we will either deal with it using our humanity, or we will be forced to do it with barbed wire and truncheons – and that way comes, not to more peace, but more conflict.
And by the way, given that this is now not just a European challenge, but also a global one, my guess is that it will not be long before we will realise that we need some new global architecture for coping with migration. And if the EU was wise, we should be pushing for that too.And by the way, given that this is now not just a European challenge, but also a global one, my guess is that it will not be long before we will realise that we need some new global architecture for coping with migration. And if the EU was wise, we should be pushing for that too.
Here are some fundamental facts about immigration, which we have so far shied away from saying in this debate.Here are some fundamental facts about immigration, which we have so far shied away from saying in this debate.
There is no wave of immigration into this country that we have not benefited from economically and culturally.There is no wave of immigration into this country that we have not benefited from economically and culturally.
2.47pm BST
14:47
And here is some Twitter comment on what Penny Mordaunt had to say.
BuzzFeed readers are quizzing armed forces minister Penny Mordaunt about #EURef. Tune in: https://t.co/ts6sNUfBRX pic.twitter.com/AUXZuEYQlk
These are from the Telegraph’s Kate McCann.
Penny Mordaunt stops just short of accusing the PM of lying to the British people over Turkey ... just.
Mordaunt uses Theresa May as a shield. Says it's not "racist or radical" to talk about migration and Turkey, likens her comments to May's
Mordaunt says the UK's gross Brussels contribution is the same as sending "a warship a week to the EU"
Mordaunt says there have been "a number of tragic moments in this campaign", says Blair/Major comments about Northern Ireland were offensive
And this is from my colleague Peter Walker.
Penny Mordaunt's ratio of actual opinions expressed/facts presented per words spoken is impressively low.
2.39pm BST
14:39
Penny Mordaunt has finished her stint at the BuzzFeed town hall event.
They “vote” at the end, and she did quite well.
Amongst the studio audience, she got 63% in favour, 36% against. (Not sure what happened to the other 1%.)
And, online, she got 6,292 “likes” - roughly double the number of dislikes.
2.34pm BST
14:34
BuzzFeed has started its EU “debate” this afternoon. Four senior figures are being questioned one after another in a session that is being livestreamed on Facebook.
Penny Mordaunt, the pro-Brexit defence minister, is up now. Later we’ve got Nicola Sturgeon (at 3pm), Nigel Farage (at 4pm) and David Cameron (at 5pm.)
2.00pm BST
14:00
Lunchtime summary
John Whittingdale, the pro-Brexit culture secretary, told BBC News that the Labour claims were “complete nonsense”. He said their figures were “increasingly hysterical predictions with no bearing on reality”.
They are trying to perpetrate what I can only describe as a fraud on the British people. There is a reason they are doing this and it is deadly serious - because they need to persuade Labour voters if they are to win this referendum. And they know their real agenda will have no appeal for these voters.
I say to Labour voters, don’t be taken in by the fraud of the Leave campaign, Tories who in the last days of this contest are trying to disguise themselves in Labour clothes.
It is not the richest, the top 1%, who would suffer the most from this economic shock, it is working people who would pay the price in losing their jobs, lower wages and cuts to public services.
The one thing that does concern me is that the polls seem to say that about 40% of Labour supporters don’t yet know our position. The Labour party is about as united as it possibly can be in asking people to Remain ... There are two weeks to go, we need to get that message out, we need to redouble our efforts.
Updated
at 2.03pm BST
1.37pm BST
13:37
Labour MP Khalid Mahmood defects from Leave to Remain
Nazia Parveen
Labour MP Khalid Mahmood has become the latest high profile defector in the referendum campaign.
Mahmood, a former board member of Vote Leave, has followed in the footsteps of Tory MP Sarah Wollaston in revealing that he has changed his mind about Britain’s future in the EU.
Mahmood claimed the Brexit campaign was racist and that it had been hijacked by issues of immigration and race.
Mahmood, the MP for Perry Barr in Birmingham, unofficially left the Leave camp two months ago but announced his position at a press conference today.
However, just two weeks ago in an interview with the Guardian it was clear that he still had more affinity with Brexit.
He told of horror stories of eastern European immigrants murdering Pakistani families and Asian women having their gold bangles torn from their arms by Romanian gangs.
He was fearful of the influx of poor immigrants into “ghettoised” communities that he says are already struggling with a lack of housing and resources, saying: “We don’t want an open house. We don’t do criminal checks on them. We can’t stop certain types of people coming in.”
He also claimed eastern Europeans were exploited the UK markets and send “benefit monies” back home to their large families.
But now he claims to sit firmly in the Remain camp decrying alleged racist ideologies and scaremongering by Brexit campaigners.
In a statement he said:
I have spoken out before about the language used by some in the leave camp about immigration, which I regard as negative and narrow minded.
I said previously that I wouldn’t be taking an active part in the Leave campaign for that reason. But I have also become increasingly concerned by some of the arguments Leave have put forward about workers’ rights.
We have been reminded yet again this morning that the senior Tory figures who want to leave the EU also want to remove rights in the workplace.
Labour governments introduced many of those rights but Europe underpins them.
I started my working life as an apprentice toolmaker in Birmingham. I passionately believe in defending and extending those workplace rights.
I am now convinced that this can only be achieved if the UK remains in the EU. That is where the interests of British workers lie and that is why I will be campaigning from now until June 23rd for Britain to remain in Europe.
1.25pm BST
13:25
Someone BTL was asking what Theresa May, the home secretary, has been up to recently. She is pro-Remain, but she is not being very vocal, leading to speculation that she does not want to alienate Tory Brexiteers in the event of leadership election coming up soon.
But she has spoken today. Arriving in Brussels fora meeting of the European justice and home affairs council, she said:
I am very clear that decisions taken here help to protect the United Kingdom’s security and safety. Taking control is not about walking away from the table. Taking control is about making sure our voice is heard and it counts, but we can only take a lead on these issues if we are sitting around the table in the first place.
Her comment may have been prompted by John Hayes, the security minister in her department, using an article in the Telegraph today to explain why he is voting Leave.
12.30pm BST
12:30
Field says Labour's EU stance could cost it 1m votes
Frank Field, one of the few Labour MPs who is voting Leave, has said his party could lose 1m votes from the pro-Remain stance it is taking in the referendum. He said:
In trying to scare Labour voters to back Remain, our leadership is on course to lose another one million votes to Ukip, just as we did in 2015.
Those voters believed then that we no longer represent their interests. Labour voters must be encouraged in the referendum to vote as they believe is in the best interests of our country.
The danger now is that another one million Labour voters will believe a Ukip vote is the only way of protecting them from further waves of immigration and the horrific side effects of globalisation.
At the last election Labour received 9.3m votes, compared with the Tories’ 11.3m.
12.18pm BST
12:18
Cooper says EU referendum is not about immigration
At the launch of the “Tory Brexit Budget” Yvette Cooper, the former shadow home secretary, rejected claims that the EU referendum was about immigration. Asked if net migration was too high, she replied:
This is not what this campaign is about. Because actually Brexit will not make a difference.
There is a lot of false promise being made because in the end they will have to do a trade deal with Europe and under the current European rules in order to get a good trade deal - as they have promised - they will end up signing up to an immigration deal as well.
So I do think more reforms are going to be needed. The Schengen system, which we are not part of, will need to have more reform, as I have called for before.
But in the end the choice for people right now is going to be a choice about what the impact is on people’s jobs, what the impact is on public services and the huge risk.
12.03pm BST
12:03
A Tory Brexit government might scrap child benefit and raise VAT by 2%, Labour says
Vote Leave dismissed the reports from the Treasury, the IMF, the OECD, the IFS and almost everyone else about leaving the EU would damage the economy as scaremongering, but all those forecasts are nothing compared to Labour’s spoof Tory Brexit Budget. It’s a real horrorshow.
It is scaremongering, but it is evidence-based scaremongering. The 10-page document, which is written in the style and typeface of a Treasury red book, has enough data in it to make it at least a semi-plausible account of what a rightwing Tory government might do in the event of the economy crashing post Brexit.
The document starts with a mock executive summary, signed by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, respectively prime minister and chancellor.
The latest forecasts suggest that the deficit in 2019-20 will now be around £28bn, compared to the £10.4bn surplus forecast in the March budget. This is in line with the analysis set out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in May. This budget sets out a plan to get the budget into balance by the end of the parliament, and achieve a surplus as well.
The plan set out today will have significant implications for our public services, including the NHS. Further reductions in day-to-day spending will accompany tax rises and reductions in welfare expenditure.
Recession, higher unemployment and further austerity – we believe these are a price worth paying for leaving the European Union.
Economic outlook
The document uses forecasts from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research to assume what might happen to the economy, and government revenue, by 2020. It assumes the UK would not strike a trade deal with the EU, and would instead rely on World Trade Organisation rules (the worst option, according to the Treasury).
Here are some of those figures.
The Labour document assumes this would lead the government having to find an extra £28bn by 2019-20. It then makes the following assumptions, based on the money coming from welfare cuts, tax rises and departmental cuts.
Welfare cuts
Here is the quote from the spoof document.
Our plans set out today entail cuts totalling £9.1bn, including reviving reforms to personal independence payments, changing the universal credit taper rate, and incorporating child benefit into universal credit so to remove child benefit from all but the poorest families. We will also accelerate the increase in the state pension age ...
The prime minister has himself argued against middle-class families receiving child benefit, describing it as an “absurd system whereby low-income people paid in their taxes for richer families to receive this Mussolini-like reward for procreation.” We will therefore abolish child benefit and roll the payments into Universal Credit, saving £5.2bn by the end of the parliament.
The quote is real. It is from a Johnson column from 2013.
Tax rises
Here is the quote from the spoof document.
Given the scale of the fiscal consolidation necessary the government has decided to end the commitment to a ‘Five Year Tax Lock’. This will allow us to complete the final section of our additional austerity programme – a 2 percentage point increase in the standard rate of VAT.
Such a move will cost: a couple with children £360 a year; pensioner couples £220 a year; and single parent families £180 a year
We strongly believe that this can be absorbed by the British public. Successive Conservative governments have increased VAT, so we see this as the logical next step. As John Redwood – leading Brexit campaigner – has previously argued, the current VAT rate of 20 per cent is “below the optimising point” in terms of raising revenue.
The quote is real. It is something Redwood said in the Commons on 8 April 2014.
Departmental spending cuts
Other deregulation
Here is a quote from the spoof document.
As the prime minister has previously argued the weight of employment legislation the UK was subject to through the European Union was “back-breaking” ...
For this reason we will launch a wide-ranging review of social and employment legislation with a view to reducing significantly the burdens we believe are placed on business under the current system ..
We also believe that our National Health Service is due major reform. As the prime minister has himself argued in the past: “if NHS services continue to be free in this way, they will continue to be abused like any free service. If people have to pay for them, they will value them more” ...
We will therefore consult on whether the National Health Service should become the insurance-based system of healthcare Nigel Farage has called for19 and/or whether a system of charging for certain services should be introduced.
The Johnson quote is from his book, The Essential Boris Johnson.
Updated
at 12.09pm BST
11.25am BST
11:25
What Germany admires about UK - nonchalance, progress, inner independence and 'anti-authoritarian, defiant tendencies'
Philip Oltermann’s story also highlights what the German magazine Der Spiegel is saying in its “Please don’t go” special bilingual Brexit edition. Its editorial talks about how much Germans value Britain.
It turns out the Germans admire us for nonchalance, progress, inner independence and “myriad anti-authoritarian, defiant tendencies”. Here’s an excerpt from the editorial.
[While it is too late] to convince the British to love the EU, perhaps we should use this opportunity to mention how much the rest of Europe admires them. It’s unbelievable that they don’t seem to see how much they’ve shaped the continent, how much we value them here, how close we Germans feel to them.
Germany has always looked across the Channel with some degree of envy. On our emotional map of Europe, the Italians were responsible for love and good food, the French for beauty and elegance and the Brits for nonchalance and progress. They have an inner independence that we Germans lack, in addition to myriad anti-authoritarian, defiant tendencies. A lot of what happened in Britain spilled over to us sooner or later, reinforcing our cultural ties.
But it could be exactly those “anti-authoritarian, defiant tendencies” that result in Britain voting to leave.