Don’t let savagery of Jo Cox’s death hijack referendum
Sun columnist says Downing Street is secretly making contigency plans in the event of Brexit
DAVID CAMERON will spend the next four sleepless nights waiting for voters to decide whether he is In or Out . . . of Downing Street.
Polls can be wrong.
He might escape like Houdini, as he did in the 2014 Scottish referendum and last year’s General Election.
But despite public dismay over the vile murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, the signs are that Britain will wave the European Union a sensational goodbye.
The verdict rests with the one in eight wavering voters who cannot make up their minds.
They include lifelong Eurosceptics who worry about appearing to keep the same company as Jo Cox’s alleged killer.
But voters are no more tainted by other people’s madness than true soccer fans with the sozzled thugs creating havoc at the Euros.
Extremism is unpopular here, but it is becoming mainstream in countries such as France, Germany, Holland and Austria, where voters feel trapped in an undemocratic EU.
Hostility to Brussels is matched by envy of our chance to escape its clutches.
If we go, others will follow.
Jo Cox campaigned for Britain to remain in the EU.
But as her friend and fellow Labour MP Rachel Reeves says: “I don’t think we should link the referendum to Jo’s death.”
Thursday’s vote is too important to risk being diverted, even by an act of such appalling violence.
This is about Britain’s future in a fast-changing world.
There are respectable arguments on both sides.
Half prefer the devil we know, for all its flaws.
The other half wants to set our economy free to flourish outside the EU.
The recent Brexit surge may have paused after last week’s savagery.
But one poll suggests most people are “delighted” at the prospect of leaving the EU and would be disappointed if we remain.
Another confirms Project Fear has rebounded disastrously against the PM and Chancellor George Osborne.
We apparently have more faith in the truthfulness of Michael Gove and Boris Johnson than in our two most senior statesmen.
This collapse in public trust is unlikely to change in the next four days.
Voters watched the PM return humiliated and empty-handed from his battle to control our borders.
They know he never considered leaving the EU despite “ruling nothing out”.
They have seen Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy impoverished by the catas-trophic euro.
And they witness the flood of migrants across borderless Europe, rich pickings for ruthless people-smugglers who condemn thousands to perish on the way.
Whitehall is gearing up for change
They also know, for all the Prime Minister’s promises and the Chancellor’s warnings, a vote to Remain would lock Britain into costly, ever-deeper political union with Brussels.
We have been mugged into supporting whatever the EU does to prop up the stricken euro.
Britain is guarantor to £80BILLION in liabilities if the single currency collapses.
As EU members, we would have no choice but to cough up.
A few weeks ago Brexit seemed a lost cause.
Today Downing Street is secretly making contingency plans for divorce.
Having strained every sinew to keep us inside the EU, Whitehall mandarin Sir Jeremy Heywood has ordered Cabinet Office staff to prepare for Brexit.
Whitehall is gearing up for change.
Treasury, Foreign Office and Justice Department officials have been preparing for months.
Anything less would be a grotesque dereliction of duty.
By Friday there may be a new regime in Downing Street, with Mr Cameron on notice to quit.
George Osborne’s time as Chancellor would be up.
Philip Hammond would be out of his palatial Foreign Office suite.
Even if Mr Cameron stayed until a new Tory leader was elected, the reins of power would shift to Brexit’s Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.
They would require detailed advice on what to do next and how to do it.
We are participating in a near-extinct EU phenomenon . . . democracy in action.
With the greatest respect to Jo Cox, we should not allow her horrific murder to derail this unique and unrepeatable process.
I’ll be using the opportunity to vote Out.
New Tory leader?
So who should the Tories choose for leader if David Cameron goes?
This is perhaps a question that requires an answer within days.
The big money is on Boris Johnson, the most popular politician of the day. But so was Tony Blair in his time and look what happened to him.
Boris has matured as a politician, curbing his tendency to make a joke out of everything.
But the star of this campaign is Michael Gove, who has blossomed as one of the most articulate, authoritative voices in modern politics.
He is that rare thing: The genuine article. Go Gove!