WITH two days to go before the nation decides whether Britain will remain or leave the European Union, here are five big names on each side of the debate, with some celebrities included for no added cost.
#VoteRemain
1.Prime Minister David Cameron
Mr Cameron offered a referendum on EU membership to voters in last year's Conservative party manifesto ahead of the 2015 general election, the first since 1975. The PM decided to back the remain side after securing several reforms including the assured protection of the pound. The Prime Minister faces the chop if he loses the vote, while some feel the referendum has exposed deep divisions in the Tory party.
Jeremy Corbyn is under fire for yesterday's actions. Picture: Getty Images2.Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn
Mr Corbyn voted to leave the European Community (EC) as it was in 1975 when he was a backbencher but has now come out in support for the EU. He maintains that leaving the EU would set off a “bonfire of rights that Labour governments secured within the EU.” He's been criticised for giving a 'lacklustre' performance throughout the campaign which some claim is responsible for failing to rally traditional Labour supporters into supporting the Remain side.
3 & 4. Television presenters Jeremy Clarkson & James May
The former BBC Top Gear personalities released a video on Monday urging fans to vote to remain in the EU. While bickering throughout the footage, both men said they wouldn't have been able to film their new show, The Grand Tour, without the freedom of movement allowed through the European Union. They pointed to Switzerland, which is not a member, suggesting the amount of paperwork needed to travel to it made the idea of being outside the EU 'carnage', with Clarkson suggesting the country itself was "a waste of time".
5. Musician and activist Bob Geldof
The Boomtown Rat caused more than a few ripples on the Thames last week when he attempted to drown out a flotilla of fishing boats being led up the river by pro-Leave politician Nigel Farage, shouting "You are a fraud, Nigel. Go back down the river because you are up one without a canoe or a paddle." But Mr Farage shouted back"These are communities that have been devastated. These are communities that no-one has listened to for years. To see multimillionaires frankly mocking them is a pretty shameful sight."
#VoteLeave
1.UKIP Leader Nigel Farage
The UK Independence Party leader and staunch eurosceptic's political life has been leading up to this moment. The rise of UKIP is seen as the main reason behind David Cameron's decision to offer the electorate a referendum on the EU before last year's general election, to avert a UKIP surge. There is speculation Boris Johnson, who is seen as most likely to succeed Mr Cameron as PM would be willing to give Nigel Farage a seat in his new Cabinet should Britain vote to leave the EU.
2. Former London Mayor Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson announced “after a huge amount of heartache” that he was backing the Leave campaign in February, blaming David Cameron for failing in his main goal to reform the EU. His decision was seen as a severe blow to the pro-EU campaign, making Johnson the automatic de facto leader of the Leave side. However, some believe Johnson's motivation to campaign to leave the EU has been more about trying to replace David Cameron in Number 10 than Britain's place in Europe.
3.Justice Secretary Michael Gove
Mr Gove has said Britain would be "freer, fairer and better off outside the EU", yet claimed his decision to defy his friend and ally the Prime Minister and back the leave campaign was the most difficult of his career. It's been suggested David Cameron's choice to sack Mr Gove as Education Secretary in the Coalition Government was a catalyst behind his motivation to back the Leave campaign. Michael Gove has said he would not mind being dismissed from the Cabinet if the UK votes to Remain in the EU against his wishes. "I don't mind if my Cabinet career is over," the Justice Secretary said. "I think the most important thing is to make a principled case for Britain leaving the EU."
4.Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes
The Tory peer called for Britain to cut ties with the "anti-democratic" EU last month. He told the Spectator: "I believe we should be out. It's about philosophy, it's about democracy, it's about democracy versus autocracy, all of those issues. I’m very much in favour of Brexit, I think it’s a great opportunity and I think if we miss it our children and grandchildren will wonder why. But I don’t really want to be a kind of poster boy on it because I feel my audience is as much as Remain as Leave and I don’t like show business figures telling us what to think. I feel that when they do it, I think ‘put a sock in it’, and if I’m thinking that I can’t do it."
5. Former Bucks Fizz singer Cheryl Baker
The singer, who was in Bucks Fizz when they won the Eurovision in 1981 with Making Your Mind Up is having no trouble with her decision on the EU, saying: “My gut feeling is we need to get out because we did all right before when we were out. I think if we leave it will be immediately detrimental but we will be OK in the end. I don’t want to make any rash judgments at the moment and need to read up on it, but I think we should get out.”
See More: Brexit, Featured, Newsletterl, Vote Leave, Vote Remain
