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EU referendum: Stanley Johnson urges north to vote against Brexit

Former Conservative MEP Stanley Johnson speaking at pro-EU rally at Queen's University. Picture by Hugh Russell
Former Conservative MEP Stanley Johnson speaking at pro-EU rally at Queen's University. Picture by Hugh Russell Former Conservative MEP Stanley Johnson speaking at pro-EU rally at Queen's University. Picture by Hugh Russell

FORMER Conservative MEP Stanley Johnson, father of former London mayor Boris, has urged the north's electorate not to vote for a Brexit.

Mr Johnson, a former Conservative MEP, is campaigning for the UK to remain within the EU - a view which puts him at odds with his son, who is campaigning for the UK to leave the union.

The leading environmentalist, who is co-chair of Environmentalists for Europe, spoke at a pro-EU rally at Queen’s University in Belfast yesterday afternoon.

Mr Johnson has been involved in promoting environmental regulation at a European level since the early 1970s.

He wrote recently that leaving the EU would threaten environmental reforms.

"It threatens air and water quality, risks removing safeguards for natural habitats, affects our ability to reduce our carbon footprint and much more," he wrote in the London Evening Standard."

James Orr, Friends of the Earth’s Northern Ireland director, chaired the event.

He said the north had benefited from cleaner beaches, drinking water and better-protected wildlife because of EU laws.

"Without EU regulations I shudder to think how much worse Northern Ireland’s environment would be now," he said before yesterday's rally.

"It has often been the only line of defence to help protect nature, human health and the well-being of communities."