2 former United Kingdom prime ministers favor Britain staying in the EU

“The vast majority of people in Northern Ireland believe their future should only ever be determined by democracy and consent and not by violence”, the top Conservative argued.

Campaigning in County Durham, Mr Cameron said he was “not the slightest bit surprised” that major Tory donor Lord Bamford had advised employees at JCB to vote Leave, and insisted he was not representative of all United Kingdom companies, saying: “I hear from business after business “Let’s win in Britain, but let’s win in Europe too”.

Writing in the New Statesman magazine, Mr Clinton said: “I was honoured to support the peace process in Northern Ireland”.

The intervention is not the first time Mr Clinton warned against the effect Brexit could have on the peace process – in March he warned Northern Ireland would get “whacked” if voters choose to leave.

But if Northern Ireland voted overwhelmingly to stay in the European Union, and England voted for Brexit, that would – as in Scotland – raise questions about how the preferences of the UK’s constituent parts should be respected.

‘Whatever the result of the referendum, Northern Ireland is not going back to the troubles of its past and to suggest otherwise would be highly irresponsible’.

Former leaders John Major and Tony Blair shared a platform at the Ulster University’s campus in Londonderry to underscore their concern that a decision to leave the 28-nation bloc in the June 23 referendum would shake a fragile peace deal.

He pointed to the fact the agreement has been in place since 1923 and the Irish ambassador has already confirmed it would remain in place, adding: “We’ve had nearly 100 years of free movement, it predated the European Union and it will outlast the European Union if we Leave”.

He added: “I hope Sarah will think again because she, like me, thinks we need to spend more money on health”.

Both Blair and Major were key players in the lead up to peace in Northern Ireland, Major working alongside the Irish government for the Irish Republican Army’s ceasefire in 1994 while Blair oversaw the inclusion of Sinn Féin in the Good Friday Agreement talks. “What you would actually have to do is end up with having border controls, and customs checks”. Without access to the EAW, the United Kingdom and Ireland would have to negotiate alternative extradition arrangements.

Emergency laws allowing an extra 48 hours to sign up to take part in the June 23 vote have been approved by MPs after the official website crashed close to the original deadline of midnight on Tuesday, shutting out potentially thousands of people.

While stressing the referendum decision was one for United Kingdom voters, Mr Clinton said: “I hope you will stay”. “I remember just how important demilitarization” on the border was for the peace process.

“I believe it would be an historic mistake to do anything that has any risk of destabilizing the complicated and multi-layered constitutional settlement that underpins stability in Northern Ireland”, Major said. In 2014-2020, the programme is due to receive around £185 million. Ireland’s ambassador to the UK Daniel Mulhall has insisted the arrangements will “still apply fully”.