- 8
February 2018
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A
campaign group fighting to keep the UK in the EU has received £400,000 from
billionaire investor George Soros.
Mr
Soros made his donation to Best for Britain through one of his foundations.
The Daily
Telegraph says the group will launch advertising later this month
to rally public opinion and convince MPs to vote against the final Brexit deal.
Best
for Britain chairman Lord Malloch-Brown, a former Labour minister, said Mr
Soros was a "valued" supporter but small donors had contributed more.
Mr
Soros, a Hungarian-born US citizen, made a fortune in 1992 betting against
sterling on Black Wednesday, forcing then-PM John Major to take the pound out
of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
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He
has previously suggested it was possible that the UK would apply to rejoin the
European Union soon after Brexit.
According
to the Telegraph, the donation was made through Mr Soros's Open Society
Foundation.
Best
for Britain was co-founded by Gina Miller, who took the UK government to court
in 2016 over its triggering of the Article 50 process to leave the EU. A judge
ruled Parliament must give its consent before Theresa May can start official
talks on the terms of the UK's exit. Mrs Miller left Best for Britain last
June.
Lord
Malloch-Brown confirmed Mr Soros's contribution but said some of the campaign's
other major donors had given more.
He
added Best for Britain had followed rules governing financial contributions.
He
said: "We have never hidden our agenda; we have been campaigning hard to
win a meaningful vote on Brexit, which we did, and to keep all options on the
table, including staying in the European Union."
He
said the campaign was a "democratic and patriotic effort to recover our
future and we welcome support for our efforts from many quarters".
The
involvement of Mr Soros was reported in the Daily Telegraph in a story
co-written by Theresa May's former chief of staff Nick Timothy.
In
an article in the paper, Mr Timothy maintained the objective of the campaign
was "to convince MPs to vote against the deal Theresa May negotiates with
Brussels, regardless of its content".
He
said: "Malloch-Brown and his backers believe that, if Parliament rejects
the Brexit deal, the government will fall, and Brexit can then be
stopped."
