eurealist.co.uk

Underdogs? More like the fat cats
By Lucy Powell
Published: February 18 2005 02:00 | Last updated: February 18 2005 02:00

From Ms Lucy Powell.
Sir, Neil O’Brien of the No campaign (reports, February 16 and 17) has been quoted to the effect that “in terms of spending power we are clearly the underdogs in the coming referendum”.
In both meanings of the term, this is a bit rich. The No campaign has boasted in recent months about having “already built a war chest of several million pounds” and has also bragged that “we are going to be able to raise millions without trouble”.
In November, Vote No raised £500,000 at one dinner. It has been spending cash on expensive treats such as cinema advertisements aimed at the audience of Bridget Jones: the Edge of Reason. This rather belies Mr O’Brien’s bleat that his pressure group is “focusing on the arguments while the EU is wasting its money on ludicrous cartoon characters”.
Conveniently, he neglects to mention the years of negative campaigning carried out by the Europhobe press. This propaganda-in-kind is worth millions and dwarfs any attempt to set the record straight. On balance, the No lobby is more a fat cat than an underdog.
Lucy Powell, Campaign Director, Britain in Europe, London SE1 2EL

Err Fat Cats? The words pot and kettle spring to mind.

And please Ms Powell don’t for get the Governments “serious amounts of Money” and the EU not on Propaganda, and the EU parliament and the EU Commision and every one of the Government ministers who will be working for the yes side, not to mention the president of the USA. Oh yes and the BBC and the independent and the Guardian etc. or do you prefer things as they were in 1975 when the yes side outspent the no side by 10 times and all the media and government officials got together each morning to decide how to spin the days news? Yes thought so.

For Real Fat Cats with real connections may I present for your entertainment the BIE…

Britain In Europe
Personnel
• Chair: Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge, Chairman, British Airways
• Acting campaigns director: Lucy Powell
• Vice-Chair: Baroness Greengross of Notting Hill
• Vice-Chair: Lord Simon of Highbury, former Chief Executive and Chairman, BP
• Vice-Chair: Adair Turner, Vice Chairman, Merrill Lynch (Europe)
• Treasurer: W. Guy Walker, former President, Food and Drink Manufacturers Federation
Advisory Board
• Malcolm Bruce MP, Liberal Democrat Trade and Industry Spokesperson
• Chris Bryant MP,
• Sir Michael Butler GCMG, former UK Permanent Representative to the EC
• Niall FitzGerald, Chairman, Unilever PLC
• Rt Hon George Foulkes MP
• Lord Hollick, Chief Executive, United Business Media plc
• Lord Howe of Aberavon
• John Monks, General Secretary, ETUC
• Sir Bryan Nicholson, Chairman, Cookson Group plc
• Lord Radice of Chester-le-Street
• Lord Sharman of Redlynch, Chairman, Aegis Group
• Sir Martin Sorrell, Group Chief Executive, WPP Group plc Ian Taylor MBE MP, former Minister for Science and Technology
http://www.britainineurope.org.uk/templ.phtml?id=1c
[edit]
Funders
• Mr Paul Adamson
• AEEU
• ALSTOM UK Ltd
• Mr Rod Aldridge
• BAE SYSTEMS
• BMP DDB
• BAT
• Professor K Bhattacharrya
• bmi british midland
• British Telecommunications plc
• Bunzl plc
• Cookson Group plc
• Dyson Appliances Ltd
• Mr Vernon Ellis
• European Movement
• Ford Motor Company
• Kimberly-Clark Europe Ltd
• Lord Haskins of Skidby
• Lord Hollick
• Lord Howe of Aberavon
• ICL plc
• General Utilities
• Kellogg’s
• KPMG
• Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge
• Mindshare UK
• Nestle (UK) Ltd
• Sir Gulam Noon
• Mr Lindsay Owen-Jones
• Philips Electronics (UK) Ltd
• PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Ravensale Ltd
• Reuters Group plc
• Lord Sainsbury of Turville
• Lord Sharman of Redlynch
• Mr Barry Townsley
• Mr Adair Turner
• Unilever plc
• United News & Media plc
• Xerox Ltd