08/06/16 EU Referendum Campaign Broadcasts

Let me tell you, as a businessman for 50 years,

businesses do not want uncertainty.

Now, granted the EU is not the perfect place, far from it.

But you don't sort something out by running away from it.

You stick at it and you make it better

and you take advantage of what it offers -

of the 500 million customers that we can sell to,

of the foreign investors desperate to spend their cash here,

of the opportunities for our children and grandchildren.

Because this vote isn't just for our generation, it's for theirs.

Let me put it in very plain terms - this is not a general election.

This is not something that's going to come around in five years' time.

Oh, it didn't work. OK, well, we'll have another vote. No, no.

This is the most serious vote you most probably will ever make.

What we get as being a member of the European Union is full access

to the biggest market of consumers in the world -

over 500 million people -

and our ability to trade very freely with all of those economies.

For ordinary households, then, that means a wider range

of employment opportunities, hopefully higher-waged jobs

than they might otherwise get and potentially lower prices

than in a scenario where we left the European Union.

Of course, we don't know exactly what would happen if we left,

but that very uncertainty for economists

is something we would worry about.

The wages, the jobs,

the living standards of millions of British workers

directly depend upon our trading relationship

with the rest of Europe.

Many of the most important rights and protections that workers enjoy

in Britain depend on European measures.

The maternity rights, the right to paid holidays,

decent treatment of agency workers, part-time workers -

all of these things are underpinned by Europe

and are guaranteed by Europe and all would be at risk if we left.

None of the threats to our security and safety

have a single-nation solution.

The European Union is based on the simple principle

that there's safety in numbers.

Coming out of the European Union

would weaken Britain's voice in the world,

weaken our influence at a pivotal time in world history.

Europe is a wonderful continent,

but it's also the place where two terrible world wars began.

And those wars happened because of excessive competition,

rivalry and hate between nations.

That's been replaced in recent decades by family, community,

cooperation, collaboration

and that's what we need more than ever going forward.

Scientists know that progress comes from cooperation.

By working together in Europe we make our economy stronger,

we give ourselves more influence in the world

and we provide future opportunities for young people.

And leaving Europe would threaten Britain's status as a world leader

in science and innovation.

It's just not a risk worth taking.

On June 23, let's vote to make sure

Britain has a strong future in Europe.