Miliband warns Britain could leave EU unless young people vote

Former UK Labor Party leader Ed Miliband has called on young people to vote in next month's European Union (EU) referendum, saying their turnout could stop Brexit.

“Today is a call to arms to all young people to register to vote… Young people can decide this referendum. If they don't use their vote, the danger is this referendum will be lost,” Miliband said during a speech in London on Saturday.

“If young people don't want the Leave campaign to narrow the horizons of the world that they will live in, it is vital that young people register and vote,” he added.

The former UK Labor Party leader noted that 1.5 million out of the six million 18 to 24-year-olds who are eligible to vote have not registered yet, nor have a quarter of the eight million 25 to 35-year-olds.

"When the Leave campaign is asked about the future - future jobs, future opportunities, future growth - they have one answer- they just don't know,” Miliband said. "Those words should ring in the ears of every child, student and parent. Not knowing is not a path to prosperity, not knowing is the road to recession."

Opinion polls suggest that older voters are significantly more likely to want Britain to leave the EU, while younger voters think otherwise.

“This is the question being confronted round the world. And the answer, I believe, from this generation is that Britain should join hands, build bridges, and work with others,” he concluded.

Miliband resigned as leader of the Labour Party following its crushing defeat in the 2015 general election.

The UK will hold a referendum on June 23 on whether the country should remain a member of the 28-nation bloc.

Membership of the EU has been a controversial issue in the UK since the country joined the then European Economic Community in 1973.

Those in favor of a British withdrawal from the EU argue that outside the bloc, London would be better positioned to conduct its own trade negotiations, better able to control immigration and free from what they believe to be excessive EU regulations and bureaucracy.

Those in favor of remaining in the bloc argue that leaving it would risk the UK's prosperity, diminish its influence over world affairs, and result in trade barriers between the UK and the EU.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron has already warned that leaving the EU would cost Britain billions of pounds and put its security at risk.

He contends that leaving the EU would have a “devastating impact” on future major road, rail and education projects.

The Bank of England had also said earlier that Brexit could push the world’s fifth largest economy into recession.

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