BY BEN KERRIGAN

World renowned scientist, Stephen Hawkings, is backing Britain to remain in the EU.

The world wide acclaimed scientist has many fans and admirers, the world over, and has taken a  political stand that may sway a lot of voters in these final 3 weeks to the elections.

Hawkings has appealed to British voters to back the remain camp in the EU referendum on June 23, claiming that exit from the EU-Brexit- will be a disaster for science. He also cited economic and security reasons why Britain should stay in the EU.  He also said ”Gone are the days when we could stand on our own, against the world , he told ITV’s Good morning Britain. He said we need to be part of a larger group of nations, both for our security and our trade. The possibility of leaving the EU, has already led to a sharp fall of the pound because the markets judge it will hurt our economy”.

On immigration, Hawkings said, ”There are two obvious reasons why we should stay in. The first is that it promotes the mobility of the people. Students can come here from EU countries to study, and our students can go to other Universities. More importantly, at the level of research, the exchange of people enables skills to travel more quickly, and brings new people with different ideas, derived from their different backgrounds. The other reason is financial. The European Research Council has given large grants to UK institutions, either to foster or promote exchanges”.

CAMBRIDGE

A Cambridge scientist, Hawkings was diagnosed with motor neuron disease in 1963, and given two years to live. However, the extraordinary scientist, who has featured on Star Trek and the Simpsons, defied the odds and went on to author a best selling novel ”A brief history of time”. An advocate for assistant suicide and the terminally ill, Hawkins is widely respected in intellectual circles.

However, his strong support for the Remain group may sway voters in this final 3 weeks. One omission in his strong support was the issue of controlling immigration, which is something different to the benefits of immigration as stated in his carefully communicated stance. The uppermost issue in the minds of many voters is uncontrolled immigration, though Hawkings words, unless he means that immigration doesn’t need to to be controlled because of its benefits.

The problem this presumptive conclusion  has for Brexit supporters is that it means terrorist can be allowed to slide into the country easily. A system that address this issue effectively may need to be in place, in order for many Euro skeptics to change their minds. Many Brexit supporters may now have second thoughts, but those firmly determined to vote Britain out of the EU will be unmoved by his persuasion.

BOOST

One certainty is that Hawkings unreserved backing of the EU Remain camp, will certainly be a boost to their campaign, putting pressure on Brexit campaigners to counter this latest heavyweight’s support with further arguments. In a separate attacking blow to  presumptive U.S Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump. The renowned scientist said he could not understand Trump’s appeal that has got him this far, adding that ”he is a demagogue, who appeals to the lowest denominator”. How that goes down in America will be interesting because Hawkins opinions counts for a lot in respected circles.