Although Mark Carney has warned that a Brexit is the ‘biggest domestic risk to financial stability’, his predecessor Mervyn King takes a somewhat different approach when it comes to the impending EU referendum.
The former Bank of England governor used an appearance today at the Hay Festival to hit out at the ‘wildly exagerated claims’ made in the run-up to the vote. ‘I wondered who would be the first to lower the tone,’ King joshed when asked whether he thought Britain should stay or go. While he declined to give his voting preference — on the grounds that it could make life difficult for Carney — King did let his disappointment be known with regards to both campaigns:
‘The one point I will make is that I have been deeply disappointed, to put it mildly, at the tone of this whole referendum debate — the word debate is not justified. Both sides have been engaged in a public relations campaign which insults the intelligence of the voters by making wildly exaggerated claims.’
While King is unhappy with claims made by both sides, he says that it is the government that has to take responsibility as they set the tone of the debate:
‘I think that the government has to take some responsibility for setting the tone as they did, instead of saying to people “well, it’s a difficult situation and I can understand that there are arguments for staying and leaving, we tried to renegotiate the best deal for the UK, maybe it’s not the best we could have dreamt of but it’s better than where we are so I reckon that all things considered my advice is to stay in”.
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