Actor Jeremy Irons has sharply criticised the EU referendum campaign run by British prime minister David Cameron, saying that Mr Cameron has failed to offer leadership to voters.

After declaring that he will vote to remain in the EU in the UK’s referendum on Thursday, Irons told The Irish Times: “I wish he’d stand up and say, ‘Listen, let us unite, as a world let us unite . . . Let us be positive about it and not be frightened.’”

Irons said the Remain and Leave sides “are playing on people’s basic instincts”, with Remain issuing dire warnings about the future of the UK economy, while the Leave campaign has frightened people about immigration.

The result has been a divisive campaign, according to the Oscar-winning actor.

“I’m not proud of our dirty washing being hung out as it is around the world for people to see.”

He described elements of the campaign as “divisive and dangerous”.

He said he believed membership of the EU seemed to offer the most positive way forward for the UK’s national debt.

“We’ve lived through a time where we’ve all lived beyond our means and we have to pull back from that and keep united.”

However, he said he does not believe Mr Cameron’s pessimism regarding the economy in the event of a leave vote, saying that the UK is likely to experience “a rocky few years” in either case.

On the topic of immigration, Irons accused the Leave campaign of scaremongering, questioning the likelihood of an influx of Turkish immigrants to Britain if the UK votes to remain.

“Why on earth would they want to come here where it rains all the time?”

The actor said he wished to see Britain’s long tradition of welcoming immigrants continue.

“I think there are elements in the Brexit campaign of fearmongering, of playing to people’s basic instincts , saying . . . of course you’re not going to get a job if we keep allowing all these immigrants in.”

He said Britain has been sustained by hard-working immigrants, among them the Irish.

He also expressed doubt as to whether Britain’s ageing population could be provided for by the British alone.

EU reform

The actor expressed hope that the referendum would bring about reform in the EU.

“What I hope, positively, will come out of it is that Europe and those that run it will realise that not only [in] Britain but in many other countries there is a deep dissatisfaction with how it’s being run and perhaps it will be altered.”

Irons, who owns Kilcoe Castle in Cork and lives there for most of the year, said he has witnessed much change in the last 20 years in the Republic as a result of EU membership.

“Selfishly, I’ve not enjoyed some of the money that’s been poured into the roads.

“I like being able to get from west Cork to Dublin easily, but I feel west Cork has lost a little bit of its independence in that it’s now very easy to get there.

“It was a bit of a struggle before. But of course if you live there and if you make your living there, which I don’t, then I think to be in Europe is a real help to the community.”

While he insisted that the Republic’s EU membership makes little difference to his ties to the country, he said he would hate to see a strong Border between the North and the South, describing it as a backwards step.

“I think it will push away the possibility of the island of Ireland being united, which is what in the future we all hope for and seems to be the logical conclusion.”