Roundup: Britain's top doctors, professors give "Remain" campaign a tonic

In the biggest united front seen so far in Britain's big European referendum battle, trade union leaders and medical colleges joined forces Tuesday.

They issued an unprecedented warning on the impact of Britain leaving Europe in a national vote on June 23.

With just over a week before a national referendum, the "Remain" side went into overdrive to win support, with professors and leading medics adding their voices by offering a real tonic.

Just 24 hours after the latest opinion polls Monday showed the "Leave" side was racing ahead, the "Remain" side needed that tonic.

Union leaders representing six million public sector employees, from National Health Service (NHS) staff to teachers and local council workers, joined professors and health experts to urge Britons to vote to stay in the European Union (EU) on June 23.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) also warned of the threat to public sector jobs if Britain leaves the EU, saying its analysis showed the NHS budget could be slashed by a quarter by 2020.

As Labour politicians from the Remain camp warned of more than half a million public sector job losses, 60 former heads of the British Medical Association (BMA) joined with medical colleges to claim a Brexit win would threaten the NHS's future.

The list of signatories in an open letter to the British public read like a "Who's who" of academia, science and medicine, with dozens of professors and top doctors adding their signatures.

The medical world wrote: "We write as former presidents and chairs of the UK's medical royal colleges and in the British Medical Association to set out why, if we care about the future of the NHS, we should remain in the EU."

"Rather than ruining the NHS, as some have claimed, immigrants play a large part in running it. Without the 10 percent of doctors and 5 percent of nurses who come from other EU countries, not to mention even larger numbers of care workers, the NHS would face severe staff shortages. It is Brexit that is the threat to the NHS, not our membership of the EU."

Twelve trade union leaders, including TUC General-Secretary Frances O'Grady and Unite General-Secretary Len McCluskey, said: "Right now, we're worried. Worried that the UK will vote to leave the European Union, and that will be a disaster for working people. With the UK worse off, the NHS will suffer too. There will be less money to fund nurses, midwives and hospitals."

The "Remain" campaign also said economic experts claimed leaving the EU could mean 525,000 public sector employees losing their jobs, as a result of a black hole of up to 56 billion U.S. dollars in public finances.

Earlier Tuesday, campaigners from the "Leave" camp dispelled fears that a vote by Britons to quit the EU would hit spending on universities, science, culture and farming.

They said a decision to leave the EU would mean even more money to spend, with enough to cover existing grants from Brussels and more to spend on other things.

Government minister for farming, food and the marine environment and "Leave" campaigner George Eustice said if Britain left the EU there would be even more money spent on things like structural funds, universities, or science.

A statement from the "Leave" headquarters late Tuesday said: "Thirteen government ministers and senior Conservatives have today committed that every region, group and recipient of EU funding will continue to get that money after a 'Leave' vote in the EU referendum."

In an open letter, the signatories, who include former London Mayor Boris Johnson, justice secretary Michael Gove and employment minister Priti Patel, assure those people and organizations who currently receive money from the EU that their funding is safe if they vote to leave.

"We can take back control of how UK taxpayers' money is spent, improve funding mechanisms to suit the needs of the British people, and spend the extra money we will get back on our priorities like the NHS." Endit