eurealist.co.uk

From Vote No.

Government says EU will spend not a single penny promoting Constitution in UK. The front page of the FT reports that the Government will not accept EU information funds earmarked for Britain. The Press Association quotes a Government spokesman saying We have asked the European Commission to ensure that not a single penny is spent on promoting a referendum, yes vote in the UK, and the Commission has agreed. The FT quotes Vote No saying that the spending of the yes side is likely to dwarf the spending of the no campaign.

The Government spokesman suggested it would be wrong to spend taxpayers money promoting the Constitution. “Obviously it would be completely counter-productive to take Commission money  opponents of the constitution would simply accuse us of putting out propaganda with taxpayers money, no matter how neutral it was.”

The claim that not a single penny will be spent by the Commission is likely to be thrown back at the Government. The Commission has already given donations to pro-Constitution campaign groups including the European Movement, the Yes! campaign, the Foreign Policy Centre, the Federal Trust and the group Federal Union. Will these organisations now have to give the money back? The definition of spending is also likely to come under scrutiny, as the Commission has suggested that it will provide materials, leaflets and support directly. The argument against spending taxpayers money, which the Government spokesman seems to acknowledge, applies equally to the UK Government’s own spending, and the ban on EU spending is likely to focus further attention on the UK Government’s own “information” spending.

I can only applaud this decision by the government let us hope they stick to the principal and do not spend Euros instead.