Geneticist and author Richard Dawkins said leaving the European Union would be "very damaging" to science Don Arnold/Getty Images

Richard Dawkins has said outgoing prime minister David Cameron should be “ever-damned” for calling a referendum on EU membership.

The geneticist and author labelled the Leave vote an economic and social “catastrophe” and said leaving the European Union would be “very damaging” for science. “It’s something that’s been wished upon us by a populist mob rule, yob rule [of politicians]”, he said.


Dawkins, who is best-known as author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, made the comments at the Starmus astrophysics conference in Tenerife, Spain, where he was among the speakers. He said that now the dust had started to settle on the referendum vote, the “sheer reality” was starting to hit people.

“I have absolutely no doubt that if we had the referendum again today, Remain would win,” he told WIRED. “There must be an enormous number of remorseful Leave voters who just didn’t realise what they were doing. I think even Boris Johnson probably didn’t believe they’d actually win. And I think the reality might be hitting him as well.”

Before the vote was held, Dawkins said Cameron was playing “Russian Roulette” with the UK’s future. But a win for Leave has shocked him. “Just very close to home, the head of my department sent a circular round saying 50 per cent of the research grant money that comes into the department is from Europe. It’s a disaster,” he said.


Dawkins also criticised the rising trend of no-platforming, something he experienced when a Twitter post led to him being dropped from speaking at the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism in New York City in May. Dawkins said he had since been “re-platformed”, but was unable to attend due to ill health.

“I’m very disturbed by it because it’s mostly universities that do it,” he said. “Universities, of all places, are places where we should value freedom of speech.” No-platforming, he continued, was “deeply antithetical to the spirit” of universities.

“It’s so babyish, it’s fussing about whether somebody’s feelings might be hurt. If you’re that much of a sensitive flower you shouldn’t be at university at all. University is a place where you learn new ideas, ideas that challenge you, ideas that may even scare you,” added Dawkins.