EU referendum ITV debate: Johnson clashes with Remain camp over £350m figure - as it happened
It was the biggest live TV debate of the campaign so far
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Your support makes all the difference.- Johnson accused of putting personal ambition ahead of national interest
- Both sides clash over the £350m-a-week EU membership figure
- Sturgeon stumbles on question of second Scottish independence vote
- Debate gets personal as Remainers round on 'life and soul' Boris
- Sturgeon: 'I wouldn't trust Boris with NHS as far as I can throw him'
The two sides in the EU referendum campaign face off in the biggest live TV debate so far, with three senior politicians representing each side. It's followed by a special EU referendum-themed Question Time with Nigel Farage. Here are the two sides in the debate:
REMAIN
Nicola Sturgeon
The Scottish First Minister and SNP leader will be heading up the debate for the Remain camp. During the General Election her debate performances were some of the most memorable and impressive. But she is a geographical marmite politician – adored north of the border but, as the election showed, treated with suspicion bordering on dislike in some parts of middle England. Some people also cynically suggest that the ideal result for Sturgeon would be a remain vote in Scotland but with the UK as a whole voting to leave – an outcome that would trigger another independence referendum.
Angela Eagle
Angela Eagle, Labour’s shadow First Secretary of State, surprised and delighted her party’s MPs when she deputised for Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Ministers Questions. Taking on George Osborne she was widely praised for getting the better of the Chancellor – mocking David Cameron’s renegotiation and even poking fun at her own leader. She is not to be underestimated.
Amber Rudd
The Energy Secretary is one of the Tories rising cabinet stars – and the pro-European cause runs through her family. Her brother Roland is one of the main bankrollers of the remain campaign. Rudd is a smart choice as the Tory on the pro-EU side of the debate as she is likely to appeal not just to Conservative voters but also the moderate left as well.
LEAVE
Boris Johnson
As the only male politician on the panel Johnson will have to tread carefully in this debate. His style of bombastic bluster could easily been seen as superficial – and he needs to be careful how he attacks Rudd, Sturgeon and Eagle. He is also not a ‘details’ politician and will need to have a convincing vision for how Britain could thrive outside the EU – and not just his standard brand of blasé optimism.
Andrea Leadsom
Amber Rudd’s deputy in the Department of Energy is a details politician and as co-founder the Eurosceptic Tory group Fresh Start knows more about the intricacies of EU law and regulations than most. Her job will be to provide ballast to Johnson’s rhetoric. But she is on the right of the party and will need to ensure that her free market views don’t end up alienating viewers on the left.
Gisela Stuart
As one of the few Labour MPs supporting Vote Leave Gisela Stuart has had a high profile referendum campaign. Well respected in Westminster she is never-the-less a contrary and independent minded politician who has irritated her colleagues with her anti-European stance. Interestingly she was born and brought up in Germany and helped the former French President Giscard d'Estaing draw up what later effectively became the Lisbon Treaty.
A man in the audience suggests we don't have enough green spaces, and that may be because we have too much immigration.
A woman after him suggests we do "need the immigrants", but maybe we want to have more of a say over who they are.
Alison Pearson, a Telegraph columnist, says this is about "families and mothers and children" and suggests children can't get into their first choice of school because there are too many immigrants.
Izzard says people are making the EU a scapegoat for the issues of the recession that happened in 2008. He says the idea of the EU coming together is the same as the UK coming together.
And after him, another seemingly pro-Brexit audience member says there aren't enough houses.
Hillary Benn speaks about the hit to the economy if Britain leaves the EU, saying we will pay higher trade tariffs.
As he does so, Nigel Farage says "come on", interrupts and then an audience member shouts him down with "Shut up!"
Dimbleby then has a little time out, after which he asks for a "civilised debate". It's getting heated, without any real substance.
And Izzard goes at Farage again over his being from an immigrant family, asking "why do you hate immigrants?"
Farage says Izzard is "boring people".
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