EU referendum: BBC audience member blames politicians for not knowing how to vote

'What are we supposed to do? I do not have a problem admitting I have no idea what to and I blame you lot entirely for that'

A member of the audience participating in the first major debate on the European Union referendum blamed “insults” and “deflections” from politicians for not knowing how to cast his vote.

The BBC debate in Glasgow, hosted by Victoria Derbyshire, had an audience made up of 18-29 year-olds who were able to ask questions to a panel of politicians about the EU and Brexit throughout.

After two audience members participated in a frosty exchange over immigrants and housing in the UK, a 21-year-old man in the audience said to the panellists: “I just want to say to you all: here we are again. Once again we’ve got deflections, insults, petty name calling… Do you actually believe your own campaigns?”

Greeted with applause and laughter, he added: “What are we supposed to do? I do not have a problem admitting I have no idea what to and I blame you lot entirely for that.

There were four panellists in total, split equally among the Remain and Leave camps. On the Remain side was the SNP MP Alex Salmond, the former First Minister of Scotland, and Alan Johnson MP, a former Home Secretary during Gordon Brown’s premiership.

Arguing the case for Leave was Liam Fox, the Conservative MP and former Secretary of State for Defence, and Diane James, a UKIP MEP and party spokesperson on Justice and Home Affairs.

Mr Salmond said that he did not buy into some of the "scaremongering" put out by the Remain side, but he added: "It wouldn't be economic apocalypse if we left the EU but there are more jobs and more choices if we stay in."

He added: "That's not the way to conduct referendum campaigns ... The remain campaign can't afford to lose one per cent a month, otherwise they will lose. To win a campaign to motivate people you have got to argue a positive case."

Ukip deputy chairwoman Ms James was challenged by host Victoria Derbyshire about whether a visa system would be introduced for travel to and from the EU in the event of Brexit.

She said: "Victoria, we just don't know because we have a prime minister who has said there is no Plan B, he has not presented a single bit of detail as to what happens if we vote to leave, he has left it completely open."

She added: "I don't believe we will need visas. It's all part of the Project Fear, it's about 'if we leave, all of a sudden Fortress Europe puts up the barriers and stops all of this happening'."

Her comments came after Labour In campaign chief Alan Johnson questioned whether visas would be necessary. "How are you going to differentiate between the Polish plumber and the Polish tourist? It means surely a system of visas and if you haven't got a system of visas then how are you going to deal with ... you are telling people we are going to stop free movement, but you are not going to introduce visas so free movement will still be there," he said.

"Unless you put a border and watchtowers on the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland you are going to have people coming across there because it would then be an EU country and a non-EU country."