The Observer view on the EU referendum

Observer editorial

What will this vote have achieved? Unintended consequences

What will this vote have achieved? Unintended consequences

As we move into the last weeks of the European referendum campaign, there is a growing clamour of voices denouncing the terms in which the debate has been conducted. The chair of the UK Statistics Authority and the Treasury select committee added their criticism last week, as the economic debate about the implications of a potential Brexit reached new levels of hyperbole.

Perhaps most extraordinary was Vote Leave’s dismissal of the highly respected Institute for Fiscal Studies as a “paid-up propaganda arm” of the European Union as it joined bodies such as the Bank of England, the IMF and the OECD in warning of the economic risks of Brexit. Even the chair of Economists for Brexitdistanced himself from this claim.