Roundup: UK Vote Leave criticizes Abe's intervention over Brexit

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe became the latest political leader Thursday to warn of the consequences of Britain voting to leave the EU.

His comments, which followed a similar warning two weeks ago from U.S. President Barack Obama, were immediately attacked by the Leave campaign.

Like Obama, Abe was speaking as he stood alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron, a staunch "remain" supporter.

Speaking at Downing Street, Abe said Britain would be "less attractive" to Japanese investors if it votes to leave.

He said Japan's business community views Britain as a gateway to Europe. Major Japanese car plants in Britain supply vehicles across the European mainland.

Abe said Japan would rather negotiate a trade deal with the EU as a block, rather than "individual states" in Europe. His comments echoed Obama's comments that the United States would negotiate trade deals with the EU, leaving Britain "at the back of the queue."

He also pointed out, during his press conference together with Cameron, that more than 1,000 Japanese firms had invested in Britain, creating 140,000 jobs.

Japan, he said, "would be paying very close attention" to the result of the June 23 EU vote.

His comments were immediately criticized by Matthew Elliott, CEO of Vote Leave.

Elliott commented: "Japan wouldn't accept the huge loss of control Britain has suffered because of our EU membership, so much of the public will be skeptical of the Japanese Prime Minister's 'do as I say, not as we do' attitude."

"Japanese bosses argued that we would be diminished if we didn't join the euro, so similar warnings about the referendum further lack credibility."

The London-based Daily Telegraph, in a business commentary on Abe's intervention, asked whether his advice was worth taking.

The paper said: "Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is touring Europe this week. He has so far lectured Germany on the virtues of ramping up government spending, and today warned Britain of the risks of leaving the EU. But is Mr. Abe's economic advice worth taking?

"His main task since taking over as Japanese Prime Minister in late 2012 has been to revive the economy, which has failed to register strong growth since a large boom-bust cycle in the early 1990s."

"Mr. Abe has launched a three-pronged attack consisting of 'three arrows': one arrow for monetary policy, one for government spending, and another for reforms of the economy. But his arrows appear to have landed wide of the mark," added the Telegraph commentary.

The commentary concluded: "In sum, given the parlous state of the Japanese economy after three years of Abenomics, Mr. Abe's intervention in the Brexit debate today may not go down as well as he would like."

Some polls are suggesting that Obama's intervention last month may have back-fired and given the "Leave" campaign a boost. The risk is a "lecture" from Japan may have a similar effect. Endit