Actor Sir Michael Caine and Lord Howard endorse British exit from the EU

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...o-Britain.html

Sir Michael Caine backs leaving EU and lashes out at 'faceless civil servants' dictating to Britain

Oscar-winning actor says he has become 'convinced' by case for Brexit in boost for the Out campaign

Oscar-winning British actor Sir Michael Caine has backed British exit from the EU

Sir Michael Caine, one of Britain’s best known actors, has publicly backed exiting from the European Union as he lashed out at “faceless civil servants” making decisions for the UK. The star of The Italian Job and Zulu told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he is now “pretty certain” that Britain should be outside the EU.

He dismissed arguments that the country could be hit economically by saying Britons would “work harder" and "try harder” until life on the outside improved. The comments are a coup for the Out campaign, which has called for leading non-political figures to reveal their Euroscepticism but with little success to date.

It comes with an In/Out referendum on Britain’s EU membership due by the end of 2017 but with a vote likely to come as early as this June. Speaking to the Today programme, Sir Michael initially said he was caught between two minds about how to vote because both options were “scary”.

However, pushed on his views on the EU the actor, knighted in 2000, criticised the body and said he was convinced by the case to leave. He said: “To me you’ve now got in Europe a sort of government by proxy of everybody who has now got carried away and I think unless there are some extremely significant changes we should get out.

“Because you’ll say ‘well, we’ll fail’ and you’ll go ‘well okay, so you fail. Get better, work harder, try harder and then you’ll be a success. “But you cannot be dictated to by thousands of faceless civil servants who make these rules and you say ‘oh, wait a minute.’ "Then they argue about financially but we buy more from them than we sell to them.”

Pushed on which way he would vote again, Sir Michael said: “I sort of feel certain we should come out.”

There was a second blow for Mr Cameron on the same programme as Lord Howard, the former Conservative leader, indicated he could also vote to leave the EU.

The Tory peer said he wanted to stay in a “genuinely reformed European Union” but said the chances of that happening were “not looking very likely”.

He also repeatedly refused to endorse Mr Cameron’s approach to renegotiation, declining to say he was doing a “good job” and adding it was the “results” that mattered.

If Lord Howard ended up campaigning to leave the EU he would be one of the most well-known Conservatives to do so. Two other former Tory leaders, Sir John Major and Lord Hague, have both backed staying in.

Both are welcome but I am more surprised at Lord Howard, former Tory leader and Home Secretary, openly backing out at this moment.

The Leave campaign needs these people because it can't just be the Tory backbench and Nigel Farage show.

Labour's Leave campaign group launched this week too with Labour's biggest donor backing an exit.

Thoughts?

[David]

thought michael caine died at first reading that title

stop it