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Helena Bonham Carter Among British Opposing Brexit

By Oliver VanDervoort
Published on: 15:07 PST, May 21, 2016

Helena Bonham Carter, Benedict Cumberbatch, and several other British celebrities have written an open letter where they talk about their desire for the U.K. to stay in the European Union. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Keira Knightley are other names that are among 250 celebrities who have made their opinion known and want the people to vote against what is popularly called the Brexit. Among the worries the personalities point out is that if the U.K. leaves the EU, the British government will be akin to an “outsider shouting from the wings.”

The letter was published in the British newspaper, The Guardian and is a kind of last ditch effort to help sway the voters ahead of the June 23 vote.

“From the smallest gallery to the biggest blockbuster, many of us have worked on projects that would never have happened without vital EU funding or by collaborating across borders.”

Helena Bonham Carter and the 249 other celebrities explain in the letter. The group has taken to trying to convince people of just how much Great Britain benefits the EU. This ploy appears to be an attempt to get British voters to feel as though they are doing other people a favor by sticking around.

“From the Bard [William Shakespeare] to Bowie, British creativity inspires and influences the rest of the world. We believe that being part of the EU bolsters Britain’s leading role on the world stage.”

The letter continued, according to the Hollywood Reporter. This kind of message seems to indicate Great Britain is very much split on what the country should do. Even prime minister David Cameron’s party hasn’t managed to find unity on whether or not the Brexit would be right or wrong for the country and good or bad for the European Union as a whole. Helena Bonham Carter is one of those who clearly feels the very culture of the country would be damaged by leaving the EU.

This new letter and the approach to the British people is part of a larger approach by the team known as Britain Stronger in Europe. This organization apparently wants Great Britain to stick in the EU and is working closely with the prime minister. On the other side of the issue is the former mayor of London, Boris Johnson. The former mayor is quite popular among the British people. Those who are against leaving the EU took a bit of a hit when he came out in favor of leaving the European Union.

While American actors and musicians tend to get readily involved in politics on a near daily basis, people like Helena Bonham Carter in the U.K. tend to be a bit lower key when it comes to their political leanings. This is one of the reasons the letter was sent in the first place. This letter was meant to shake up the British people by seeing just how many of their favorite entertainers, from all over the spectrum of the industry, were interested in this issue.

The letter by Helena Bonham Carter and her friends is also a change in tactics by the campaign. Before the entertainment industry went out and sent this letter in, the campaign to keep Great Britain the U.K. and avoid the Brexit was primarily being waged by well-known political luminaries. Economists have been brought in to talk about how the U.K.’s economy would suffer if the Brexit won out. They have also talked about how the collapse of the EU economy will impact Great Britain.

By having people like Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley talk about the negative cultural effect, the campaign hopes the British people will have something more tangible to focus on. Helena Bonham Carter is among those who feels the cultural losses will be very comparable to those economic losses.

[Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images]

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