Delivering a landmark speech in London Stuart told Sputnik:
"The EU is an institution that keeps to a single trajectory, incapable of critical self-examination. Questions like democratic accountability and economic competitiveness, which are so central for us in Britain, are downgraded in case they divert from the European Project. It is integration at whatever cost or consequence. This referendum is the opportunity to set ourselves free from an organization that only serves its own interests."
She was speaking as research was published showing that public spending on pensions in the Eurozone is forecast to rise by 2.1 percent of GDP by 2050, while debt interest payments are set to go up by more than double that rate.
Gisela Stuart giving a speech on the dangers of Voting Remain. Safer option is to #takebackcontrol pic.twitter.com/sMXtfaOsz9
— Vote Leave (@vote_leave) April 13, 2016
The combined effect is a conservative estimate that taxes in the single currency bloc will have to rise by 17.6 percent by 2050 as the shrinking working-age population pays to support a swelling army of the retired.
GS: This referendum is the opportunity to set ourselves free from an organisation that only serves its own interests. #TakeControl
— Vote Leave Media (@Vote_LeaveMedia) April 13, 2016
Referring to the research, Ms. Stuart said:
"This daunting demographic reality just goes to show that the Eurozone is a ticking time bomb — an alarming reality that all EU members will inevitably be affected by. Voting to remain on 23rd June is not just about staying in the EU as it is today, but staying in the EU as it will look in 2025 or 2035."
'Political Self-Destruction'
Writing for rival campaign group, 'Britain Stronger in Europe', former Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "The stakes could not be higher for a very simple reason: the referendum in Britain is taking place at a time of major international ferment and challenge. For Britain to quit Europe would be an unprecedented act of political self-destruction.
"Not only would it have a devastating impact on Britain's strength in the world; it also threatens a domino effect on the institutions that help make the world a more secure, prosperous and stable place. We are living through an unprecedented challenge to the institutions and values that have advanced human security, prosperity and dignity over the last two generations. These institutions, including the EU, are far from perfect and they need reform, but they uphold the core idea of an international order based on clear rules," he said.
His comments come in the week that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the UK's exit from the European Union could cause "severe regional and global damage". Peter Bone MP, co-founder of Grassroots Out, which is campaigning for a Brexit, said: "The IMF supported the failed euro — and now supports the UK remaining in the EU at the request of the British Government.
Bone: "We are motivated by the unflinching belief that the UK will be safer, stronger and more independent outside the EU."
— Grassroots Out (@Grassroots_Out) April 13, 2016
"We cannot trust scaremongering from these establishment organizations when they have been wrong on the Euro, failed to predict the credit crisis and have been consistently wrong in predicting UK economic performance. The real risk to the UK economy is remaining in a failing EU club that will tax our financial services, depress wages via mass migration and continue to impose burdensome red tape on our small and medium sized businesses. The safer option for the UK economy is to leave the EU and take back control of our own affairs," said Bone.
