EDINBURGH (Sputnik) — The United Kingdom is voting on whether it should stay in or leave the European Union. Polling stations across the United Kingdom stay open from 7:00 a.m. (06:00 GMT) through 10:00 p.m. local time (21:00 GMT).
"If it is a vote to leave there will be huge repercussions and I can’t see how David Cameron or [UK Chancellor] George Osborne can survive beyond the next week. So in terms of UK politics it has a huge potential for upheaval with a new Prime Minister, a new Chancellor of the Exchequer," Lyon said.
Lyon added that those politicians who had played prominent roles in the Leave campaign would be the most likely figures to replace Cameron and Osborne, but stressed that such a change would "worry" many voters in Scotland.
“Some of the characters on the Leave side would be the main front runners for those top jobs and I think that would worry a lot of Scots.”
The former deputy minister said that despite a rise in support for Brexit in recent weeks reflected in polls, which revealed growing concerns over immigration, he believed more voters would be considering the economic impact more closely.
“I think about two weeks ago you could see the whole immigration debate gathering a real head of steam and support, in England especially, much more than the case in Scotland…. The whole debate about the economic arguments of staying in have now transcended that and I am hopefully we get the right result to remain in.”
