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EU referendum live: decision day as polls put remain and leave neck-and-neck
EU referendum polling day: remain and leave neck-and-neck as country votes - live
(35 minutes later)
10.06am BST
10:06
In his ten things to watch Philip Cowley warned us to be careful of reports of high turn out (see earlier).
But we can’t resist having some anecdotal reports from respected sources (what else can we write about on polling day?).
Queues like I've never seen out the polling station in hackney pic.twitter.com/oDUBM7wBVj
I've never see such queues at my polling station as today! Swell them folks! Swell them!
Quite brisk turnout at my local Polling Station (Southampton) - queue at 7am. Seems slightly above gen election turnout.
Cowley is keeping a beady and wary eye on such reports.
Two for the price of one. https://t.co/EeauoGR15A
Only two UK referendums have had higher turnouts than recent general elections, the Institute for Government Points out. These were the one on the Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland in 1998 (81.1%) and on Scottish independence in 2014 (84.6%).
9.49am BST
09:49
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon voted early.
9.43am BST
09:43
Axel Scheffler, the illustrator behind the Gruffalo, has created an image for the Guardian to demonstrate his support for Britain remaining in the EU.
Related: 'There's no such thing as a Brusselo!'
Updated
at 9.43am BST
9.37am BST
09:37
Severin Carrell
Edinburgh council has reported that nearly a fifth of the city’s 345,000 voters have already submitted postal votes in the EU referendum, with more than 82% of the city’s postal voters returning their ballot paper by Wednesday evening.
The city has a high number of registered postal voters at 22%. The number returned so far does not include late submissions – postal votes can be handed into polling places on polling day. That 82% interim turnout is close to the 86% UK average for postal vote returns in the 2015 general election.
9.36am BST
09:36
Libby Brooks
Remains campaigners are out in force in the West End and Partick areas of Glasgow, with the leave camp conspicuous by their absence around polling stations.
But I’m told that’s because Leave are concentrating on their get out the vote operation. Plus, the student/middle class/SNP make-up of the area probably doesn’t speak to their core support.
Polling station officials report a steady flow of voters, no doubt encouraged by the bright sunshine, though not yet teaching the high watermark of 2014’s Scottish independence referendum.
Remainers out in force in Glasgow's Hillhead as polling station officials report steady flow of early voters #EUref pic.twitter.com/bkJFhtRT5H
9.32am BST
9.32am BST
09:32
09:32
Landmark buildings across Europe, including in Madrid and Warsaw, have been lit up with a Union Jack to show support for the Remain campaign, according to video from the Business Insider.
Landmark buildings across Europe, including in Madrid and Warsaw, have been lit up with a Union Jack to show support for the Remain campaign, according to video from the Business Insider.
9.27am BST
9.27am BST
09:27
09:27
Here’s video of David and Samantha on their way to vote in central London.
Here’s video of David and Samantha on their way to vote in central London.
9.25am BST
9.25am BST
09:25
09:25
Leading leave campaigner Boris Johnson has told the Telegraph that today’s vote is more important to him than his future in British politics.
Leading leave campaigner Boris Johnson has told the Telegraph that today’s vote is more important to him than his future in British politics.
“Frankly, if this is the end of my political career… I’ve done eight years as mayor of London, I enjoyed it hugely, it was a massive privilege. Fine by me.”
“Frankly, if this is the end of my political career… I’ve done eight years as mayor of London, I enjoyed it hugely, it was a massive privilege. Fine by me.”
But he remains fairly chipper about the outcome.
But he remains fairly chipper about the outcome.
“Our campaign has been about optimism and self-reliance. This is an absolute turning point in the story of our country because I think if we go on with being enmeshed in the EU it will continue to erode our democracy. That is something that worries me.”
“Our campaign has been about optimism and self-reliance. This is an absolute turning point in the story of our country because I think if we go on with being enmeshed in the EU it will continue to erode our democracy. That is something that worries me.”
Boris spent part of the final day of campaigning kissing fish at Billingsgate.
Boris spent part of the final day of campaigning kissing fish at Billingsgate.
Steve Bell features Boris kissing fish in outer space in his latest If... cartoon.
Steve Bell features Boris kissing fish in outer space in his latest If... cartoon.
Related: Steve Bell’s If ... Boris Johnson takes leave of the solar system
Related: Steve Bell’s If ... Boris Johnson takes leave of the solar system
9.13am BST
9.13am BST
09:13
09:13
Leaders cast their votes
Leaders cast their votes
Both David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn have cast their votes.
Both David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn have cast their votes.
9.02am BST
9.02am BST
09:02
09:02
Philip Cowley, who teaches politics at Queen Mary University of London, has 10 things be wary of today.
Philip Cowley, who teaches politics at Queen Mary University of London, has 10 things be wary of today.
2. Pencils! Pencils! Pencils! “I was asked to use a pencil. I refused, and used a pen”.
2. Pencils! Pencils! Pencils! “I was asked to use a pencil. I refused, and used a pen”.
4. Reports of problems at polling stations. This one is guaranteed.
4. Reports of problems at polling stations. This one is guaranteed.
6. Everyone suddenly becoming an expert on share price movements.
6. Everyone suddenly becoming an expert on share price movements.
8. “Is there going to be an exit poll?”
8. “Is there going to be an exit poll?”
10. “No, that’s not an exit poll”.
10. “No, that’s not an exit poll”.
8.48am BST
8.48am BST
08:48
08:48
Reuters has followed up that front page promise by the German tabloid Bild to recognise England’s disputed goal in the 1966 world cup final.
Reuters has followed up that front page promise by the German tabloid Bild to recognise England’s disputed goal in the 1966 world cup final.
If Britain stays, @BILD will acknowledge the Wembley goal #EUref #Tomorrowspaperstoday @suttonnick pic.twitter.com/DPxHo0IbK9
If Britain stays, @BILD will acknowledge the Wembley goal #EUref #Tomorrowspaperstoday @suttonnick pic.twitter.com/DPxHo0IbK9
Germany’s Bild newspaper promised on Thursday that Germans would not hog hotel sunloungers and would ditch their goalkeeper for the next penalty shootout, playing on friendly stereotypes in a last-ditch plea to Britons to stay in the European Union.
Germany’s Bild newspaper promised on Thursday that Germans would not hog hotel sunloungers and would ditch their goalkeeper for the next penalty shootout, playing on friendly stereotypes in a last-ditch plea to Britons to stay in the European Union.
“Dear Brits, if you remain in the EU ... then we ourselves will recognise the Wembley goal,” Bild declared above a picture of Geoff Hurst’s controversial extra-time goal in the 1966 World Cup Final, when the English soccer team beat West Germany.
“Dear Brits, if you remain in the EU ... then we ourselves will recognise the Wembley goal,” Bild declared above a picture of Geoff Hurst’s controversial extra-time goal in the 1966 World Cup Final, when the English soccer team beat West Germany.
Touching on decades of rivalry on the soccer pitch, the paper said Germany would go without its goalkeeper in the next penalty shootout between England and Germany.
Touching on decades of rivalry on the soccer pitch, the paper said Germany would go without its goalkeeper in the next penalty shootout between England and Germany.
Germany is considered by English soccer fans to be their main sporting rival. Germany defeated England in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup and the semi-finals of the 1996 Euros.
Germany is considered by English soccer fans to be their main sporting rival. Germany defeated England in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup and the semi-finals of the 1996 Euros.
Leaning on decades of jokes between the countries, the mass-selling tabloid promised to put towels on sun loungers to reserve the best spots for Britons by the hotel pool, and to not use suntan lotion out of solidarity with sunburnt Brits.
Leaning on decades of jokes between the countries, the mass-selling tabloid promised to put towels on sun loungers to reserve the best spots for Britons by the hotel pool, and to not use suntan lotion out of solidarity with sunburnt Brits.
If Britain were to stay in the EU, Bild also pledged to supply the baddie for every James Bond film, put its clocks back one hour so they were on the same time zone as Britain and introduce an EU guideline that bans froth on beer.
If Britain were to stay in the EU, Bild also pledged to supply the baddie for every James Bond film, put its clocks back one hour so they were on the same time zone as Britain and introduce an EU guideline that bans froth on beer.
Earlier this month, Germany’s Der Spiegel published a bilingual edition of its weekly magazine in English and German containing a strong appeal for Britons to vote to remain
Earlier this month, Germany’s Der Spiegel published a bilingual edition of its weekly magazine in English and German containing a strong appeal for Britons to vote to remain
Updated
Updated
at 8.48am BST
at 8.48am BST
8.42am BST
8.42am BST
08:42
08:42
One voter said she had to be carried into a flooded polling station.
One voter said she had to be carried into a flooded polling station.
I just had to be carried into a flooded polling station. It's something biblical... #remain pic.twitter.com/T8qeGC3zEd
I just had to be carried into a flooded polling station. It's something biblical... #remain pic.twitter.com/T8qeGC3zEd
8.37am BST
8.37am BST
08:37
08:37
Vikram Dodd
Vikram Dodd
Police said they were not expecting trouble as tens of millions of Britons are expected to vote in Thursday’s referendum.
Police said they were not expecting trouble as tens of millions of Britons are expected to vote in Thursday’s referendum.
Despite a bitter and heated campaign, police said they expected a peaceful day. Police commanders have been issued with extensive guidance on how to minimise the chances of electoral fraud with police chiefs keen not avoid getting caught up in the rancour surrounding Brexit.
Despite a bitter and heated campaign, police said they expected a peaceful day. Police commanders have been issued with extensive guidance on how to minimise the chances of electoral fraud with police chiefs keen not avoid getting caught up in the rancour surrounding Brexit.
A spokesperson for the National Police Chiefs’ Council said: “While there is currently no intelligence to suggest issues will arise around Thursday’s poll, police forces are monitoring the situation locally and putting appropriate plans in place to ensure a fair and peaceful electoral process.”
A spokesperson for the National Police Chiefs’ Council said: “While there is currently no intelligence to suggest issues will arise around Thursday’s poll, police forces are monitoring the situation locally and putting appropriate plans in place to ensure a fair and peaceful electoral process.”
8.31am BST
8.31am BST
08:31
08:31
No voting problems reported so far in Barnet. The London borough has a lot to prove after hundreds of people, including the chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, were turned away at last month’s elections after a voting register blunder.
No voting problems reported so far in Barnet. The London borough has a lot to prove after hundreds of people, including the chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, were turned away at last month’s elections after a voting register blunder.
Polling stations open from 7am to 10pm today. Check the full list of polling stations in Barnet here: https://t.co/vb0HCJs5zw #EUref
Polling stations open from 7am to 10pm today. Check the full list of polling stations in Barnet here: https://t.co/vb0HCJs5zw #EUref
8.23am BST
08:23
Matthew Weaver
The Sun and the Guardian are diametrically opposed on the referendum, but both papers used views from space on their front pages to make their differing cases.
The Sun has Britain heading for the sunny uplands on “Independence Day” - the rallying cry of leave campaigner Boris Johnson.
Thursday's Sun front page: Independence Day #Tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers #EUref pic.twitter.com/AuLEe5znw4
While the Guardian wants us to stay in the European Union - light pollution and all.
Guardian front page, Thursday 23 June: Last-ditch push to stay in Europe pic.twitter.com/xTHZwXGVgL
Meanwhile, the Mirror’s front page looks in the other direction – down a deep hole in the earth – to warn readers of what it sees as the perils of Brexit.
Read our editor's full letter to readers on the #euref here https://t.co/5QEjLxOX98 pic.twitter.com/iBG21zie8N
Updated
at 8.52am BST
8.05am BST
08:05
Claire Phipps
I’m handing over this live blog now to Matthew Weaver, who’ll cover the next several hours of polling day. Our live coverage runs right through to polls closing at 10pm and beyond, when Andrew Sparrow returns to catch all the results being churned out and turn them into sense. I’ll also be back on Friday morning for those key counts. Thanks for reading and for the many comments.
7.56am BST
07:56
Libby Brooks
The early morning weather in Glasgow is radiantly sunny, with all that is inferred to mean for turnout.
The Scottish papers are well aware of the importance of this country’s predicted EU-phile tendencies today, with the Scottish Daily Mail declaring that “Scotland holds the key to Brexit” and the Daily Record’s front-page banner urging readers to vote remain.
Elsewhere Scottish party leaders have been reminding their Twitter followers to vote, while Ukip MEP David Coburn has been urging voters to #useapen in case those dastardly pencils given out at polling stations are a cunning ploy from remain to (literally) rub out his side’s support.
We’ve yet to see how committed pro-independence supporters in Scotland react to Farage et al co-opting the hashtag #independenceday.
Polls open in #EUref - #VoteRemain to continue to be an outward looking nation. Let's make Scotland's voice heard.
We are stronger, safer and better off working with our friends and neighbours in the EU, not walking away. Vote #Remain.
7.51am BST
07:51
As the UK votes on whether to stay in the EU or leave, the Guardian sent seven photographers to capture the mood in various European communities who have made their home in the UK, from a Greek Orthodox church to a German bierkeller.
Whichever way you’re voting, these images are a beautiful way to kick off your day:
Related: 'Europe cannot stand alone without you': EU nationals in the UK – a photo essay
7.46am BST
07:46
Graeme Wearden
There’s only one important item on the agendas of investors across the world today. Britain is heading to the polls after a lengthy, bitterly fought campaign to decide if she stays in the European Union, or should leave.
Traders in the City are preparing for a lengthy shift – perhaps staying late into the night, or returning to the office early tomorrow morning.
Friday is likely to be one of the most dramatic and volatile trading sessions in many years, especially if the public choose to leave the EU. Analysts have predicted that the pound could slump by 15%, while shares would probably suffer big losses.
Voting has just begun, with pollsters saying that the result is hard to call – especially as around 10% of voters are still undecided.
Related: Pound rallies as investors await EU referendum result – business live
7.40am BST
07:40
If you’re planning to stay up for the results tonight, you need to plot your day carefully. Sleep might, after all, be needed at some point. So my colleague Jessica Elgot has come up with this nifty hour-by-hour guide, starting from 10pm:
Polls will close, and on election nights this is normally the moment broadcasters show their exit polls and make their projection for the night ahead.
However, that won’t happen this time as there’s no exit poll for this referendum. Some banks are said to have commissioned private exit polls, but they will be kept for their employees.
So if anyone tells you they know what’s going to happen at this stage, they’re a chancer, unless they are an eagle-eyed watcher of sterling derivative markets. Sky News has commissioned a survey from YouGov of people previously polled, asking how they voted on the day. This will be released at 10pm, but this is not, repeat not, an exit poll and shouldn’t be treated like one.
Related: Referendum night: when to nap and the results to watch
7.33am BST
07:33
Of course, it’s not just London and south-east England that have weather. Other parts of the UK are also entitled to have weather. Theirs is rather better today:
It's a gloriously sunny morning in Glasgow; assuming will positively affect turnout for #EURef if not voters' mood pic.twitter.com/X8MlU0HVmR
7.30am BST
07:30
With the polls telling us that around 10% of voters are still unsure how they will cast their ballot, you could perhaps do worse – OK, not much worse – than go by the roll of a dice.
(Pedantic readers, please note: I know it should be a die, but that reads oddly and I’m trying to keep things cheerful.)
Voter Andy Roe tells the Oxford Times that he’ll decide by tossing his homemade cube:
The dice idea came into my head when David Cameron said ‘we must not roll a dice to decide out children’s future’. Everybody will be doing that because of misinformation. Most people will be metaphorically throwing a dice – we don’t know what will happen either way.
Here he is with his unnecessarily large cube. Democracy’s a funny thing.
Voter leaves EU choice to chance by rolling dice: A CONFLICTED voter will entrust the fate of his referendum ... https://t.co/Xz0pA0i8bK
7.20am BST
07:20
Will rain in London and south-east England put off voters today? Spectacular thunder and lightning overnight might have caused a few to oversleep this morning, but the bigger problem is likely to be travel disruption caused by heavy downfalls and flash flooding in some areas.
The London Fire Brigade says it received a day’s worth of calls in just an hour and a half to reports of weather-related incidents including lightning striking property, flooded homes and businesses and rising waters trapping vehicles.
On the London underground, the District line, DLR and Overground were all suspended or delayed because of flooding. Gatwick Express southbound services have been suspended, and South West Trains, Southern and TFL Rail are also suffering major delays.
Outside London and south-east England, the weather is expected to be fine and settled today.
6.51am BST
06:51
Morning briefing
Claire Phipps
Yes, it’s here: the day you’ve been dreaming of/dreading; the day you didn’t believe would ever really happen. Polling stations open this morning for those who haven’t already posted back their ballots (hello, decisive and organised voters!) to cast their cross to remain in the European Union or leave.
Here I’ve rounded up all you need to know for the long day ahead. Then this live blog – steered by me and a cast of colleagues – will take you through until polls close this evening, at which point Andrew Sparrow climbs into his seat for a night of results.
Do come and chat in the comments below or find me on Twitter @Claire_Phipps.
The big picture
The last few hours have been strewn with final pleas – and if the polls are correct in saying the percentage of those voters still undecided could be in double figures, there might yet be receptive ears for those pleas to fall upon. So here they are, in a nutshell.
David Cameron: “It is a fact that our economy will be weaker if we leave and stronger if we stay … Put jobs first, put the economy first.”
Boris Johnson: “Democracy is vital but it only works when you can kick the buggers out when they make a mistake. If we vote to leave we can take back control of our democracy and our immigration policy.”
Nicola Sturgeon: “I believe in independence for countries but I also believe independent countries must work together for the greater good … If we vote remain, we protect them; if we don’t vote remain, then we put all of these things at risk.”
Gordon Brown: “This is not the Britain I know, this is not the Britain I love. The Britain I know is better than the Britain of these debates, of insults, of posters.”
Yvette Cooper: “What the leave campaign have done is push lies and also pit human beings against other human beings. That is what is wrong, immoral and just not British.”
Andrea Leadsom: “Tomorrow we will either wake up to the bright freedom of our independence day, or to the humdrum drudgery of just another day under the newly triumphant eye of the Brussels bureaucracy.”
Nigel Farage: “Let’s stop pretending what this European project is: they have an anthem, they are building an army, they have already got their own police force, and of course they have got a flag. At the end of the day … when people vote they have to make a decision – which flag is theirs?”
John Major: “If our nation does vote to leave … we will be out, out for good, diminished as an influence upon the world, a truly Great Britain shrunk down to a little England, perhaps without Scotland, perhaps with a grumpy Wales, and certainly with a Northern Ireland divided from the south by the border controls that would then be the edge of the European Union.”
Iain Duncan Smith: “David Cameron is colluding with the EU and lying to the British people. Families are suffering the consequences of uncontrolled migration – a direct result of the EU’s obsession with freedom of movement.”
Jean-Claude Juncker: “Out means out. British policymakers and British voters have to know that there will be no kind of renegotiation.”
Tim Farron: “You’ve got to hold and give but do it at the right time. You can be slow or fast but you must get to the line. They’ll always hit you and hurt you, defend and attack. There’s only one way to beat them, get round the back.”
A tribute to John Barnes from Team #INtogether. @officialbarnesy #VoteRemain #EUref #Strongerinhttps://t.co/kdUfHGJ5lJ
(And in case you didn’t know why the remain campaign was reminiscing fondly about John Barnes.)
You should also know:
Poll position
There won’t be official exit polls this evening, so the last-ditch forecasts are all we’ll have until the real results land. And those final polls tell us that remain is ahead, that leave is ahead, and that it’s neck-and-neck.
Number Cruncher Politics – which stood out in last year’s general election for actually predicting a Conservative victory – now puts the probability of a remain win at 74%.
Don’t expect too much today, bar politicians and voters heading to polling stations. (Nonetheless, stick with the live blog, won’t you?) It all hots up after 10pm, when voting stops and counting starts. So, in Friday timings:
Related: How the EU referendum result will emerge in the hours after polls close
Read these
Paul Mason, writing on Medium, says a vote to remain is not a mandate for the “neoliberal, anti-democratic” EU:
On Friday, with the referendum over, I will join with radical and progressive movements across Europe to oppose your austerity strategy and the political cant that justifies it – aka neoclassical economics. And I will go on fighting the austerity imposed by the UK government …
I hope remain wins tomorrow. But the problem will still be there: neoliberal austerity promoted by the European Union is destroying the values of Europe. A generation of young people is being taught to despair and fear the future.
For this reason I will push for a mandatory re-run of a referendum on EU membership every seven years. I encourage the peoples of all other countries to exercise this right regularly.
Juliet Samuel in the Telegraph writes in defence of the referendum campaign:
For all the fear and anger and viciousness, I believe voters will make the right decision. I’m not referring to which way they’ll vote. I mean that voters broadly understand, either instinctively or rationally, what the arguments are and where they stand. We’ve heard time and time again in this campaign how ‘confused’ the public is and how desperate for ‘facts’ voters are. Esteemed commentators have wrongly concluded that this makes people unqualified to vote on such a serious matter.
The opposite is true. The insatiable desire for ‘facts’, the endless letters and phone-ins and questions, tell us that voters know they are not hearing definitive predictions, but points of view and spin. They would like certainties, but they have not heard anything that amounts to one. And so they know that their vote in the referendum is really just a judgment call: whom do I trust? What risk can I bear? And, fundamentally: what do I value?
Max Colchester and Jenny Gross in the Wall Street Journal win fascinating fact of the day with news that residents of the Isle of Man cannot vote in the referendum (but Gibraltarians can):
The debate over Brexit, as Britain’s potential exit from the EU is known, isn’t simple. Neither is figuring out who gets to cast a vote.
During world war one, the UK passed laws allowing ‘British subjects’ from across the empire to vote in UK general elections. The empire crumbled but the rights live on. People from some 53 countries can vote in the referendum as long as they live in the UK or Gibraltar, a British territory off the tip of southern Spain. People residing in Gibraltar can’t vote in general elections but got a pass for this one …
The Isle of Man counts as abroad … Today, it is a ‘self-governing Crown dependency’, which means it isn’t part of the UK, even though Britain is responsible for its foreign affairs.
The day in a tweet
Well played, Germany: they don’t think it’s all over.
If Britain stays, @BILD will acknowledge the Wembley goal #EUref #Tomorrowspaperstoday @suttonnick pic.twitter.com/DPxHo0IbK9
If today were a song ...
All the polls would tell us it has to be Europe’s The Final Countdown. But no! What do the polls know, anyway. Let’s go for the Hokey Cokey instead: in, out, shake it all about. That’s what it’s all about.
And another thing
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Related: EU referendum morning briefing - sign up here
