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EU referendum: Bill Gates says Brexit would make Britain ‘significantly less attractive’

'It will be harder to find and recruit the best talent from across the Continent; talent which, in turn, creates jobs for people in the UK'

Ashley Cowburn
Friday 17 June 2016 09:50 BST
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Bill Gates has waded into the European Union referendum debate claiming that Britain would be a “significantly less attractive place to do business and invest” in the event of a Brexit.

The intervention from Mr Gates, the world’s wealthiest man who has invested more than a billion dollars in the UK, came after several polls throughout the week suggested the Leave campaign had edged ahead. On Thursday a poll showed Leave with 53 per cent of the vote while Remain slipped behind with 47 per cent.

In a letter to the The Times the American businessman said Britain would be “stronger, more prosperous and more influential” inside the EU.

EU Referendum: Latest Poll

Mr Gates, who founded Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – a philanthropic organisation – also said Britain's EU membership and access to the single market played a role in the decision to place the company's research facilities in Cambridge.

“While ultimately a matter for the British people to decide, it is clear to me that if Britain chooses to be outside of Europe, it will be a significantly less attractive place to do business and to invest,” Mr Gates added.

“It will be harder to find and recruit the best talent from across the Continent; talent which, in turn, creates jobs for people in the UK.

“And, it would be harder to raise the investment needed for public goods such as new medicines and affordable clean energy solutions, for which we need the scale of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and financial backing that the combined strength of the EU provides.”

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