EU referendum: Voters head to the ballot box as polls show race is neck and neck

Polling stations were opening across the UK today
AP
Robin de Peyer23 June 2016
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Voters were today going to the polls for the EU referendum as polls showed the result is still too close to call.

The historic ballot on the future of the country marks the end of months of bitter campaigning which has pitted senior government figures against each other.

But torrential rain which hit London and the south-east overnight could hit turnout, experts feared.

The Remain campaign, led by David Cameron, has repeatedly stressed that the UK is "stronger, safer and better off" inside the EU.

The Prime Minister and his Remain colleagues from across the political spectrum have also warned of the potentially severe economic consequences of a Brexit vote amid fears of financial market turmoil and another recession.

The Prime Minister gave a 'Vote Remain' speech in Bristol yesterday
AFP

But Leave campaigners, led by Tory heavyweight Boris Johnson, have urged voters to "take back control" of the country.

They believe a divorce from Brussels would give the UK more money to spend on national issues like funding the NHS as well as giving the Government the ability to control the nation's borders and levels of immigration.

Boris Johnson on the EU campaign trail at Billingsgate fish market yesterday (Stefan Rousseau/PA )
Stefan Rousseau/PA

Mr Johnson has suggested that June 23 could be remembered as the UK's "independence day".

The referendum campaign has been punctuated by ill-tempered exchanges and interventions with both sides accusing the other of scaremongering, particularly over the issues of the economy and immigration.

Nigel Farage came in for particularly stern criticism after unveiling a Brexit poster showing a queue of hundreds of immigrants arriving in Europe with the slogan "breaking point".

And Leave campaigners were left furious after George Osborne made use of Treasury research to warn that quitting the EU would result in households being £4,300 worse off.

Meanwhile, dozens of celebrities have intervened during the course of the campaign to make their feelings known.

Footballer David Beckham, James Bond actor Daniel Craig and Harry Potter author JK Rowling were just three of the high profile names to back the Remain campaign, while Leave won support from the likes of comedian John Cleese, former cricketer Sir Ian Botham and former England football player Sol Campbell.

The polls in the run-up to the big day have suggested the referendum result is on a knife-edge, with neither side able to surge ahead in the final weeks.

A record number of voters are eligible to take part in the referendum with the Electoral Commission putting the number at 46,499,537.

A last-minute surge to register crashed the Government's website hours before the deadline on June 7, prompting a 48-hour extension.

Polling stations are due to open at 7am and will close at 10pm.

Follow the referendum live on standard.co.uk as results come in.

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