Voters in France, Italy and the Netherlands are demanding their own votes on European Union membership and the euro, as the continent faces a “contagion” of referendums. EU leaders fear a string of copycat polls could tear the organisation apart, as leaders come under pressure to emulate David Cameron and hold votes. It came as German business leaders handed a considerable boost to the Leave campaign by saying it would be “very, very foolish” to deny the UK a free trade deal after Brexit. In Italy, the anti-establishment Five Star movement on Tuesday declared it would demand a referendum on the euro. The party wants the euro to be split – one for the rich north and one for the south. In France, Marine Le Pen, the Front National leader, last night called for France to have its own referendum on the “decaying” EU. “I would vote for Brexit, even if I think that France has a thousand more reasons to leave than the UK,” she said. In the Netherlands, polls show a majority of voters want a referendum on membership, and voters are evenly split over whether to stay or go.
The Brexit contagion: How France, Italy and the Netherlands now want their referendum too
