Boris Johnson: Voting to leave the EU.
The least-worst option for British people is to stay in the European Union and that's nothing to celebrate.

TO THE REFRAIN OF THE CLASH'S 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?' the two opposing camps have slugged it out over whether Britain should remain in the European Union. At the time of writing, the Leave camp had a small lead over the Remain camp in the opinion polls but, really, its too close to call.

Labour's Jeremy Corbyn is campaigning on the basis of staying in Europe to change  Europe, which is also the position of the Green's and Left Unity.

I have to say that if I was living in the UK I would probably be holding my nose and voting the same way as Jeremy. I would be doing it with little conviction and I certainly would not be putting on my party hat if the Remain side happens to win. I'd watch the European football championships instead.

I'm not a fan of the EU. Far from it. Indeed I agree with others on the British left - some who will be voting to leave - that it has done little more than provide an institutional framework to drive the neoliberal agenda and impose harsh austerity measures on the European working class. We don't have to look too hard for evidence of this. I'll just say - Greece is the word. What has happened to Greece is a stark warning of what will happen to other EU countries if they attempt to challenge the neoliberal order.

But to vote with the Leave camp exit would mean jumping into bed with some unsavoury right wing characters - like Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and The Sun. To endorse this campaign would be seen as support for outright racism and the kind of immigrant fears stoked by the like of Farage. Call me old fashioned, but I don't think socialists should be voting the same way as neo-Nazi crazies.

Laurie Penny: Voting to stay in the EU.
How would this advance the working class in Britain and elsewhere? Answer - it wouldn't.

Boris Johnson and others have been tubthumping that to restore Britain's 'democracy' and 'independence' then the only choice is to vote Leave. But this is not about restoring genuine power to the people, merely an argument among the British ruling class. Whichever way the vote goes, tomorrow the same people will be in power, capital will still be screwing the working class.

Laurie Penny has written in the New Statesman that 'Brexit' is 'an ugly word for an ugly debate' and she's right about that. She's right when she says that the reason why the neither the Leave or the Remain Camp can come up with a positive story is because there is no positive story to tell.

In these unattractive circumstances, the only realistic choice is to vote for the least-repellent option which, in this case, is for Britain to remain in the EU. We await the final result...

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