GEORGE Osborne has insisted the EU referendum is a “fight for the soul of this country” as he defended Treasury figures that have suggested families would be £4,300 a year worse off should Britain quit the Brussels bloc.
Quizzed by the BBC’s Andrew Neil, the chancellor said: "If we vote to remain, Britain will be better-off, safer as a country but if we leave, we will lose control of our economy and that means losing control of everything.”
He denied scaremongering but noted there was “a lot to be scared about” if voters opted for Brexit.
Mr Osborne rejected Nigel Farage’s image of Britain, which, he claimed, had taken over the Vote Leave campaign. “It’s mean, it’s divisive, it’s not who we are as a country. Britain is a great country. It’s open, it’s inclusive. We’re fighting for the soul of this country,” he declared.
On Turkey’s possible accession to the EU, he insisted it would not happen in his lifetime, saying it was a “million miles away”.
The chancellor stood by his controversial claim that families would be £4,300 a year worse off after Brexit, noting how a "very similar" figure had been produced by other forecasters such as the OECD.
He added: “I am a father of two children and I don't want to look around to them in 20 years’ time and say: ‘You know, Britain used to be a great success, used to be connected to the world, but we took a decision and we retreated from that world.’
"I want Britain to be the great success story of the 21st century."
Meantime, the Leave campaign has seized on JCB chairman Lord Bamford's backing for Brexit as proof that business supports withdrawal from the EU.
Lord Bamford has written to all JCB employees to explain why he is in favour of quitting the EU.
The businessman said he supported joining the Common Market but did not back it turning into a political union.
Stating that more than half of Britain's trade is with non-EU countries, the Tory peer warned that the EU had a shrinking share of world trade.
"No one can be certain of the outcome. One thing I am certain of is this: JCB will continue to trade with Europe irrespective of whether we remain or leave the EU.
"JCB was selling into Europe long before the UK joined the Common Market in 1973, and it will remain an important market for JCB," Lord Bamford wrote.
The JCB chairman told workers it was up to them how they voted but they should vote one way or the other in the referendum.
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