LONDON (AP) – The Latest on Britain’s referendum on staying or leaving the European Union (all times local):
11:20 a.m.
Former London Mayor Boris Johnson has criticized a poster showing a column of non-white migrants trying to enter the European Union, a view that underscores a deepening rift between campaigners promoting Britain’s exit from the 28-nation bloc.
Johnson, one of the most prominent campaigners on the “leave” side, distanced himself from U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, whose “Breaking Point” poster has been widely criticized.
Britain’s anti-EU campaigners have long been bitterly divided. Johnson’s Vote Leave won Electoral Commission approval to be the official standard-bearer of the campaign. Farage, a member of the European Parliament, has fought on nonetheless.
Johnson told LBC radio the poster had “xenophobic undertones” and says “my campaign is based on fairness.”
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11:15 a.m.
In the southern Romanian town of Caracal, residents want Britain to stay in the European Union. Many moved to work there after Romania joined the EU in 2007.
Cars with British registration plates are parked on the streets of the poor town of 32,000, while other vehicles have the right-hand drive like British cars, bearing Bulgarian plates, where it is cheaper to register cars than elsewhere in Europe.
Stelica Ciocan, 41, who sells toys, says his cousins work in construction in Britain.
He acknowledged it could be more difficult for Romanians to enter Britain if it votes to leave the EU, but predicted they would continue to travel due to the opportunities there.
He says: “Yes, it would be harder for us. But we’re used to hardships. We’ll keep leaving even if it’s difficult. We must take risks all the time for the better things in life.”
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11:05 a.m.
New carbon pollution figures show the European Union may find it harder to meet its climate targets if British voters decide to leave the bloc
Data published Tuesday by the European Environment Agency show that Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 34.3 percent in 1990-2014, the biggest percentage drop in the EU except for eastern countries whose emissions fell sharply when communist-era heavy industries collapsed.
If it weren’t for Britain, the EU’s total emissions would have dropped 22.8 percent rather than 24.4 percent during that period.
The EU has already reached its target to reduce emissions by 20 percent by 2020. In negotiations on a climate deal in Paris last year it pledged to deepen those reductions to at least 40 percent by 2030.
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9:25 a.m.
Soccer star David Beckham has thrown his support behind those campaigning to keep Britain in the European Union, describing Europe as a team that needs to play together to succeed. The 40-year-old issued a statement Tuesday saying: “We live in a vibrant and connected world where together as a people we are strong. For our children and their children, we should be facing the problems of the world together and not alone.”
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9:10 a.m.
Billionaire currency trader George Soros has warned that a vote for Britain to leave European Union will trigger a plunge in the pound – without benefits that can come with a devalued currency.
In an op-ed piece in Tuesday’s Guardian, Soros says a decision to leave the 28-nation bloc in Thursday’s vote will cause sterling to drop quickly. Soros predicted the drop will be more dramatic than when Britain crashed out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in September 1992.
Soros substantially profited – at the expense of the Bank of England and the British government – when the pound lost 15 percent of its value.
Soros says those who believe a “leave” vote will have no impact on their personal finances are guilty of “wishful thinking.”