Second Europe referendum in my lifetime is a once in a lifetime opportunity, says Cameron

David Cameron has stressed that the upcoming in/out referendum on Europe is a once in a lifetime opportunity, just as the one that happened in 1975 was.

The ‘United Kingdom European Community Membership Referendum’ of 5th June 1975 asked whether the UK should “stay in the European Community (the Common Market)” and resulted in a majority vote in favour.

With that in mind the 49-year-old Prime Minister, who is part of the Remain campaign, was keen to emphasise the importance of the vote and used the 1975 referendum to illustrate how the result is always final.

“It is a once in a generation, once in a lifetime opportunity and the result determines the outcome,” he said.

“You can’t have neverendums; you have referendums – like the one we had in 1975.”

Many of his core voters share his beliefs. Retired stockbroker Cornelius Gruffleton, 66, said: “These youngsters don’t understand the gravity of the situation.”

“When we voted in ’75, we knew that it was a one-off thing so we put great consideration into it and I have done exactly the same in this referendum, which will definitely decide the issue once and for all, again.”

Former London Mayor Boris Johnson rubbished the PM’s claims, saying: “Everyone thought World War One was a once in a lifetime event, then along came Adolf Hitler. Look what happened then!”