John Barnes, representing England in 1988: ‘A leave vote now says that we don’t really care about anyone else.’ [Image: Stewart Kendall/Sportsphoto Ltd.]

I emphasise this because the ‘Leave’ campaign has been based on lies from the start – lies about its supporters; lies about its funding (£600K from a former BNP member!); lies about the issues (the classic being the claim that it costs £350 million a week to be in the EU – in fact we profit from our membership, by around £120 million a week).

It was with great surprise that I received a text from my son on Tuesday telling me that Michael Gove had told the world I was supporting the leave campaign. This simply is not true.

Leave is preying on people’s fears, telling the same story we’ve heard over the years about black people from Africa and the Caribbean coming to steal our jobs. Now we hear the same thing about Poles. If leave wanted to say that companies are paying migrants less than British workers, and so allowing them to take our jobs, then it should be looking at raising the minimum wage – not stopping migrants entering the country. The problem has nothing to do with the Polish workers – it is an issue about our labour laws. Yet leave maintains its focus on immigration.

Mass migration and the refugee crisis is one of the biggest problems facing the world… Why should we be the first to turn our backs on the problem? We have to think not only about what would happen to those unfortunate people, but to the rest of the planet too. What kind of example would we be setting? We should be the first to help disadvantaged people. What would happen if other countries decided to follow our example?

A leave vote now says that we don’t really care about anyone else, we don’t care what happens to the European Union. Why should the Germans be able to show more compassion than we do?

They talk about what makes Britain great. How we are morally right, the people who will do the right thing. Well that should be helping others in need, setting an example to the world – not running away at the first sign of trouble.

Source: John Barnes: Gove says I’ll be voting leave. He’s wrong – and here’s why | Opinion | The Guardian

ADVERT

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here: