A Brexit vote is a gamble on the future of the young, London’s lord mayor to warn
Voting to leave the EU represents a gamble on the future of young people, the lord mayor of London will today warn.
Speaking ahead of chancellor George Osborne and Bank of England governor Mark Carney at the Mansion House, Jeffrey Mountevans will say that the young are under-represented in the Brexit debate, despite the relative importance of next week's vote.
“The digital revolution is doing for this generation what the industrial revolution did for the Victorians: expanding their horizons and changing the very meaning of international relations,” Mountevans will say.
“And the flag-bearers of that revolution – the tech companies, the startups, the entrepreneurs, who are the employers of tomorrow – indicate overwhelmingly that they need the Single Market to succeed.
“Will we really deny young people the interconnectedness, the freedom, on which modern economies survive – and which they themselves are best able to exploit?
“Because if we do, then we’re gambling with the future prosperity and innovation that we’re relying on them to produce.”
Mountevans is the 688th lord mayor of London, and has been a vocal backer of the Remain campaign.
He was appointed to the board of directors at Clarksons in 1989, and is a member of the Baltic Exchange, the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, and chairman of Maritime UK.