PEOPLE are getting turned off the EU referendum because of politicians’ increasingly “outrageous claims” on both sides, an organiser of a public debate has warned.

Bradford’s Politics in the Pub group is hosting a Europe-themed debate in the run-up to this month’s referendum, but has opted not to have a single politician on the panel.

One of the organisers, John Atkinson, said they had already hosted an EU debate in which Shipley’s Eurosceptic MP Philip Davies had gone head-to-head with Yorkshire MEP and ‘remain’ supporter Richard Corbett, which had proved a big success.

But he said they had decided to try something a little different for their second event, amid concerns about the increasingly dramatic claims on each side of the national debate.

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He said: “The quality of the debate hasn’t risen with the volume. Richard Corbett and Philip Davies were fantastic but every time I turn on the news, there’s another politician making outrageous claims about how the vote will affect us.

“Frankly, people are getting turned off by politicians trying everything to undermine their opponents, and filling the argument with conjecture about how Hitler, ISIS or Putin would vote simply isn’t helping.

“People have stopped listening because they can’t believe the claims being made.

“Our panel is made up of specialists who will give a neutral, nuanced and, above all, expert view you can trust.

“Be warned, though, our panellists aren’t afraid to say what the politicians won’t and have been hand-picked to give both sides of the argument rather than a blinkered dichotomy.”

The panel includes lawyer Debbie Jukes, who is a specialist adviser on Brexit’s potential effect on business, Bradford-based entrepreneur Andrew Mason and Dr Mark Baimbridge, a senior lecturer in economics at the University of Bradford.

The debate will take place at The 1875 bar on Ivegate, Bradford, at 7.15pm on Wednesday, June 15.

Tickets are free and available at bradford.pitp.org.uk.