Alistair Darling and Michael Howard clash over Brexit campaign at CBI dinner
Two grandees of the Leave and Remain campaigns dramatically crossed swords last night, when a former chancellor and former home secretary clashed over the ramifications of the referendum vote at the CBI's annual dinner.
The glitzy black tie event, hosted at Grosvenor House on Park Lane, saw Labour peer Alistair Darling and Tory peer Michael Howard storm into the increasingly embittered Brexit row in front of the UK’s top business leaders.
Howard, an advocate of Vote Leave, said leaving the European Union would be a boost for businesses, particularly smaller ones.
In contrast, Darling, who is for staying in the EU, said a Brexit vote would trigger a major economic crisis.
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Now both members of the House of Lords, the two men used their respective speeches to accuse the opposing camp of dramatically mis-selling the European Union to the British public.
The clash comes in a week which has seen the referendum debate ratcheted up to new levels, with former Mayor of London Boris Johnson accusing David Cameron of a “stitch up”.
With just over a month to go before the crucial vote on 23 June, Darling, who was at the helm of the UK's economy just as the financial crisis took hold, warned the top bosses at last night's event that a Brexit would plunge the UK into an equally deep recession.
“Recent experience and historic evidence shows that when our economy suffers this kind of serious damage, insolvencies, repossessions and unemployment, particularly among young people, all soar,” Darling said.
He added: “Economic insecurity of the type being forecast would be disastrous for working people's life chances and living standards. Economists and economic institutions are queuing up to warn of damage to trade, growth, investment, our credit rating, and the pound.”
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At the same event, Howard, home secretary for four years under former Prime Minister John Major, highlighted the economic gains of a Leave vote, arguing that just five per cent of British firms export to the EU, leaving the smallest firms facing a disproportionate burden in terms of dealing with European red tape.
“If we left the EU with no trade deal – inconceivable given the tariff free zone from Iceland to Turkey – our exports would face EU tariffs averaging just 2.4 per cent. But our net contribution to the EU budget is equivalent to a seven per cent tariff.
“Paying seven per cent to avoid 2.4 per cent is mis-selling on a scale that dwarfs the scandal of PPI,” Howard said.
Howard also issued a full-throated attack of the CBI's track-record on Europe, noting the industry group had previously claimed failure to join the euro would cost Canada's place as a leading financial centre. “The arguments are all too familiar,” Howard said.