EU’re having a laugh – at our expense

Government spends £9.3 million on pro-EU ‘leaflet’

The Westminster government has been severely criticised for spending £9 million of tax payers money on an ‘information’ booklet which outlines the case for remaining in the European Union.

The government claims they are responding to the public’s request for facts – they say 85% of the public want the government to provide more information to help make an informed decision on 23 June – but critics argue the booklet is pro-EU propaganda and may even be illegal.

 Starting next week, every household in the UK will receive a leaflet from the government setting out why it believes that remaining in the EU is the best decision for the UK – Scottish voters will receive theirs after the May Holyrood elections.

Environment Secretary, Liz Truss, said: “This referendum will be a huge decision for our country, perhaps the biggest we will make in our lifetimes and it is crucial that the public have clear and accessible information. Independent polling carried out on behalf of the government made clear that 85% of people want more information from the government to help make an informed decision.

“The document makes clear why EU membership brings economic security, peace and stability. It also sets out that if the UK voted to leave, the resulting economic shock would put pressure on the value of the pound, which would risk higher prices of some household goods.”

Whitehall says the leaflet sets out ‘the facts’, explains why the government believes a vote to remain in the EU is in the best interests of the UK, and shows some of the choices the country would face if it were to leave. It also encourages the public to register to vote by the 7 June and directs them to where they can do this.

A stand alone website EUreferendum.gov.uk has also been launched – it features the leaflet online and provides further information to the public. The government will be advertising this on social media and other digital channels.

The total cost of producing, distributing and publicising the leaflet across the UK is £9.3m – a cost of around 34p per household. Breakdown of these costs is as follows:

• Production – £458,500
• Print and delivery to over 27m homes across the UK in 2 waves – £5,947,436
• Digital promotion and website – £2,894,064

In addition to the government leaflet, the 2 designated campaigns will have public funding made available to them from the Electoral Commission to produce their own leaflet to every voter or household. This is alongside the Electoral Commission’s own leaflet to every household, in which both campaigns will be given a page each.

This follows precedents where the government published leaflets ahead of the EU referendum in 1975, the referendums on the creation of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly in 1997, the creation of the mayoral system in London in 1998 and  two UK government leaflets during the Scottish referendum in 2014.

The government maintains that publications of this sort, including the distribution of this leaflet, are ‘entirely lawful; special rules limiting government publications will apply in the last 28 days of the referendum campaign.’

However critics have reacted furiously to the government’s pro-EU campaign leaflet. Leading NO campaigner UKIP Leader Nigel Farage said: “Why is the government spending £10 million of our money telling us what we should think and what we should do?

“This is very much like what happened in 1975, legally it is questionable and morally it is wrong. It was wrong in 1975 and it is wrong now.

“This government scam confirms my view that this referendum will be defined by the battle of the people versus the political class.

“Furthermore, the document is jammed full of lies and inaccuracies including the claim that we currently control our borders. We don’t. It is outrageous to suggest otherwise.”

London mayor and prominent ‘Out’ campaigner Boris Johnson said the leaflet is a “crazy” waste of money.

“If this thing was genuinely going to help people understand what is going on in the debate, there might be a case for it,” he said. “But given that I think it’s very likely it will be very biased and hysterical and warning unnecessarily about the risks of leaving the EU, I think it’s a complete waste of money. If you are going to use taxpayers’ money you should allow people to put the other side of the case as well.”

The leaflet will be delivered to households in England from 11 to 13 April, ahead of their local election purdah and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland throughout the week commencing 9 May to avoid disrupting their pre-election period.