REFERENDUM: Council leader says Brexit would '˜lose Hastings millions of pounds'

The leader of Hastings Borough Council has said a Leave vote in the EU referendum would see the town lose millions of pounds.
By The Newsroom
Published 24th Jun 2016, 02:15 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 00:00 BST

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The Rugby result was revealed in the early hours of this morning.The Rugby result was revealed in the early hours of this morning.
The Rugby result was revealed in the early hours of this morning.

Speaking at the count at Horntye Sports Complex last night (Thursday, June 23), Cllr Peter Chowney said money obtained in the form of EU grants, for things like the Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG), would be lost if the country opted to leave the European Union.

He said: “The council have had a lot of money from the EU and there’s quite a lot more to come in the future.

“If we were to leave, that money would go.

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“Staying in the EU would mean more money in EU grants which were given to places like Hastings - money for the tourist industry, for young people working in Hastings, for the care sector and health service, people working here and coming from elsewhere in Europe.”

Cllr Chowney is confident of a Vote Remain victory in the town. He said: “I think people were reasonably convinced by the arguments about why we should stay in, the economic argument in particular.

“From the people I spoke to, it seemed the stay argument was beginning to sway people over for the reasons of immigration, economy and jobs, worker’s rights and working hours. People were starting to worry about what would happen without the EU.”

The EU referendum saw a 71.6 per cent turnout of votes, with 44,357 votes cast out of 61,957 eligible votes.

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The counting began shortly before 1am and is expected to be announced around 3am once it has been verified.

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Related topics:Hastings Borough CouncilHastingsBrexit