Abstract
‘Brexit is our chance to escape a burning building, we should flee before the EU drags us down. Outside the EU we can become richer, safer and free at long last to forge our own destiny – as America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many other great democracies already do. And as we were the first to do centuries ago. To remain means being powerless to cut mass immigration which keeps wages low and puts catastrophic pressure on our schools, hospitals, roads and housing stock. In every way, it is a bigger risk …
… Remain has conducted a deceitful campaign. It has been nasty, cynical, personally abusive and beneath the dignity of Britain. Our country has a glorious history. This is our chance to make Britain even greater, to recapture our democracy, to preserve the values and culture we are rightly proud of.
A VOTE FOR LEAVE IS A VOTE FOR A BETTER BRITAIN.’
The Sun, J
‘We hope it has now been proven that Brits will ignore political lectures from rich celebs – and opponents calling them morons. Remainers may feel like no one listened to them. Now they know how the working class have felt for years. Finally, we urge everyone to calm down. The world hasn't ended. Britain has changed a little, that's all.
It will prove a great decision for our country. And 17,410,742 people backed it. Onward and upward … it's a new day for our nation.’
The Sun, J
‘Who do we think we are, and who do we want to be? Are we so different from others that we cannot play by shared rules? Are we one member in a family of nations, or a country that prefers to keep itself to itself and bolt the door?
… The EU is not just the least bad of the available options. It is also the one that embodies the best of us as a free people in a peaceful Europe. Vote this week. Vote for a united country that reaches out to the world, and vote against a divided nation that turns inwards. Vote to remain.’
The Guardian, J
‘The British people have spoken. The prime minister has resigned. Already, the consequences of what the voters said and why they said it have begun to reshape Britain's future in profound and potentially dangerous ways. The country has embarked on a perilous journey in which our politics and our economy must be transformed. The vote to leave the EU will challenge not only the government and politicians but all of us whose opinions have been rejected.’
The Guardian, J
‘Why … would a country with our history and economic strength want to continue its membership of such a dysfunctional outfit? Ask ourselves this question: if we weren't in it would we be agitating to join now?
… In supporting a vote to leave, we are not harking back to a Britannic golden age lost in the mists of time but looking forward to a new beginning for our country. We are told it is a choice between fear and hope. If that is the case, then we choose hope.’
The Daily Telegraph, J
‘Above all, the referendum outcome confirmed the deep divide that has riven the nation, not just over its attitude to Europe but on pretty much everything.
… The Leave side secured the highest popular vote in British history, an unprecedented rejection of the views and threats of an entire class of politicians, business leaders, opinion formers, foreign governments, the Church, the CBI, and the IMF. The EU referendum became the vehicle for venting their rage against the refusal of politicians to listen to them while deriding their genuine worries over immigration as bigotry and racism.
… History will judge the referendum of June 23, 2016 to have been a transformative event for this country – not the culmination of a journey, but its beginning.’
The Daily Telegraph, J
‘We may be lured by the notion of being marginally freer, but we will be significantly poorer. For modern Great Britain to thrive and prosper we must work with, not against, our European partners; we must keep our seat at Europe's top table and help shape its destiny; our strong, clear voice must be heard inside Europe, not be shouted from the sidelines.
This newspaper believes in a safe, free, and prosperous future for this proud country. And so we urge you, our readers, not to take a leap into the dark. Vote to remain in the European Union – for an even greater Britain.’
Mail on Sunday, J
‘Above all things, The Mail on Sunday is a patriotic newspaper which loves this unique, free, fair country and the great things it stands for. This is a moment in our history which is very exciting and exhilarating for many, and very perplexing and worrying for others.
It is entirely in our traditions that at such a moment we should all – especially our political leaders – stand and work together for the common good, regardless of our disagreements.’
Mail on Sunday, J
‘The positive case for Britain in the EU is easily made. To abandon the cause of constructive reform of an admittedly imperfect EU would be more than defeatist. It would be a gratuitous act of self-harm. Business leaders have a duty to spell out the cost of leaving before it is too late.’
Financial Times, J
‘Neither side doubts that Britain is a resilient, resourceful country that has weathered many storms before. Over time, the economy will readjust and Britain will find a new, if diminished, place in the world. The best hope, which this newspaper fervently shares, is that the UK remains engaged, open and, in the best spirit, pro-European. That way lies the future.’
Financial Times, J
‘Mr Cameron … could go down in history as both an effective campaigner and the leader of a reform movement in Europe that would prevent it sliding into a disharmonious federal state that would ultimately rip it apart. No one should underestimate how tough a task that would be. It may not sound as exhilarating or romantic as a defiant march to Brexit, but it is the better choice for Britain and Europe.’
The Times, J
‘The union itself is now shaken to the core. Other states may demand referendums of their own and Brussels cannot quash these yearnings. They are appeals for more accountability and less interference which the EU must heed for its own sake. Britain should find a way to help this process from the outside, because whatever else will change in the coming months and years, geography will not. We must strive for new trade deals with emerging economies and the anchor nations of the Commonwealth, but Europe will remain our closest neighbour. Its stability will always be in Britain's strategic national interest.’
The Times, J
‘Our ancestors shed oceans of blood to uphold and defend this country's right to govern itself, pass its own laws, raise its own taxes and – most pertinently – get rid of politicians when they abuse our trust. Why on earth should we now want to belong to a dysfunctional club that denies us these rights – a club with an imploding economy, pursuing a frankly mad policy of open borders which, if not checked, will lead to violence between the ugly Left and ugly Right across Europe?
… If you believe in the sovereignty of this country, its monarchy, its unwritten constitution and its judicial system; if you believe in the will of the people and don't want to be ruled by faceless bureaucrats; if you are concerned about uncontrolled immigration; if you wish to control the destiny of the UK; if you want a government you can vote for and in turn vote out of office if it breaks its promises; and if you believe in Britain, its culture, history and freedoms, there is only one way to vote. Brexit.
This is our one chance. We must seize it.’
Daily Mail, J
‘What an awesome tribute to the British people. Day after day, month after month, voters were bombarded with hysterical threats and terrifying scares – everything the Government machine, the mainstream party leaders and the global political and financial elites could throw at them. They endured insults and abuse. Those who believed Britain could prosper as an independent nation, both in Europe and the world beyond, were attacked as “Little Englanders”. Those who were concerned about the effects of uncontrolled immigration on jobs, wages, housing, public services and the welfare of their children were smeared as “racists”.
… But outside the echo-chamber that is the metropolitan liberal class, the real people of Britain saw things differently. They held their nerve, saw through the lies and trusted their instincts.’
Daily Mail, J
‘Remaining in the EU will not magically eliminate the challenges Britain faces in the years to come. But if we choose to do so, it will keep Britain at the heart of reforming the European project so that the nations of Europe are together better equipped to face them. At its core, the European Union remains a practical expression of the belief that liberal democracies can achieve more acting in concert than they can alone. We must not turn our backs on that.’
The Observer, J
‘For 30 years, the “left-behind” (the working poor, the “strivers”, the zero-hours workers) have waited for a new economic reality based on fairness and equality to rebalance the effects of late capitalism as it advantaged a smaller and smaller number of people with grotesque income inequalities. This time, they were led to believe that a correction was at hand. Not from these Leavers it isn't. And no one should be surprised if they next vent their anger when it turns out that Leave's cure-all turned out to be a mendacious chimera.
“Take back control”? They just might.’
The Observer, J