LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron pleaded with Britons on Tuesday to think of their children and their economic well-being before voting to quit the EU, as polls showed a razor-tight race with less than 48 hours before the referendum. Cameron warned that future generations would be left a damaged, diminished economy if Britain became the first state to defect from the EU in the bloc’s 60-year history.

On the same day, financier George Soros predicted a Black Friday plunge in sterling if Britain, the world’s fifth-biggest economy, votes to go its own way.

The prospect of a Brexit has raised fears of a domino-effect collapse of the European project, which was born out of a determination to ensure peace on the continent after two world wars.

“Do think about the hopes and dreams of your children and your grandchildren,” Cameron urged, clearly targeting older voters judged most likely to oppose Brussels.

“If we vote out, that is it. It is irreversible. We will leave Europe for good and the next generation will have to live with the consequences.” Leaving would weaken the economy, the prime minister predicted. “That is a huge risk to Britain, to British families, to British jobs,” he said.

Soros, who made a fortune by betting against the pound in the so-called Black Wednesday of September 1992, said rejecting the EU would deliver a financial shock.

“Sterling is almost certain to fall steeply and quickly if ‘Leave’ wins the referendum,” Soros wrote in The Guardian newspaper, predicting a devaluation of more than 15 per cent.

But pro-Brexit campaigners dismissed Soros’ remarks, saying he had also backed the creation of the euro. “As we have seen, the euro has been a job-destroying, unemployment-creating disaster,” said the British justice minister, Michael Gove.

Of the three latest polls, two placed “Remain” narrowly ahead while a third indicated the “Leave” camp could prevail. The websites of six major bookmakers showed the odds heavily pointing to a “Remain” vote, with the chances of Britain staying in put at nearly 80 percent.

The latest surveys were mostly conducted after the brutal murder of Jo Cox, a 41-year-old Labour lawmaker and mother of two, who was shot and stabbed in her northern English constituency on Thursday.

The campaign in Britain remains locked on two major concerns: the economy and high immigration.

British sports legends joined the fray, too. “We live in a vibrant and connected world where together as a people we are strong,” England football great David Beckham wrote on Facebook. “For these reasons I am voting to Remain.”

English cricket legend Ian Botham advised people to leave the bloc, sounding the alarm on immigration. “Our beautiful countryside is what makes Britain the place it is and this island was not designed for 100 million people,” he wrote in The Express.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2016