By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor
World famous scientist, Stephen Hawking, has again repeated his backing for the Britain to remain in the EU and has warned against the dangers of Donald Trump if he becomes president.
He said Trump is “demagogue who appeals to lowest common denominator.”
Hawking, who has pushed the boundaries of scientific knowledge, can’t get his head around the success of Trump.
Mr Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1963 and was only given two years to live. Disregarding that prognosis instead he wrote A Brief History of Time and became one of the world’s bestselling and best known authors.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that he can’t explain the popular appeal of the TV star turned presidential hopeful.
On the issue of the EU referendum, he once again hoped voters would back the Remain camp. He raised the issued of security and economic reasons but also to ensure science is still invested in, within the British Isles.
He said: “Gone are the days when we could stand on our own, against the world. We need to be part of a larger group of nations, both for our security and our trade. The possibility of our leaving the EU has already led to a sharp fall in the pound, because the markets judge that it will damage our economy.”
Hawking also addressed immigration, one of the biggest issues in the referendum debate.
He said: “There are two obvious reasons why we should stay in. The first is that it promotes the mobility of people. Students can come here from EU countries to study, and our students can go to other EU universities. More importantly, at the level of research, the exchange of people enables skills to transfer more quickly, and brings new people with different ideas, derived from their different backgrounds.”
“The other reason is financial. The European Research Council has given large grants to UK institutions, either to foster or promote exchanges.”
