George Soros is to pump an extra £100,000 into the campaign to halt a ‘hard Brexit’ as a direct result of newspaper-led attacks on his financial interventions.
Billionaire philanthropist Soros was accused of leading a “secret plot” to undermine Brexit in a front-page article in the Telegraph.
The Daily Mail’s front page the next day told Soros to “butt out” of Brexit, saying: “You can keep your tainted money.”
Now Soros and his foundations have offered to match-fund further small donations up to £100,000 to the Best for Britain group, which wants to keep Britain in the European Union. Soros has already spent £400,000 on the campaign.
He told The Guardian: “I am happy to take the fight to those who have tried to use a smear campaign, not arguments, to prop up their failing case.”
The crowdfunding push has raised £59,625 so far. Best for Britain’s CEO Eloise Todd said: “We live in a democracy, and the right to freedom of speech is precious. Elements of the right-wing press don’t seem to agree.
“The UK’s future with the EU is not a done deal, there is still a vote to come and people across the country deserve to know the truth about the options on the table: one of which is staying and leading in the EU.
“George Soros and his foundations is kindly offering to help match-fund to give Best for Britain more support so we can make sure this message gets out: the biggest decision on Brexit is yet to come.”
The Telegraph piece, penned by Theresa May’s former chief of staff, Nick Timothy, claimed Soros’s foundation was trying to bring down her government
It provoked a huge backlash as Soros is often the target of far-right conspiracy theorists who accuse him of being part of a Jewish plot to establish a New World Order, amongst other things.
European Parliament’s Brexit chief, Guy Verhofstadt, accused Timothy of spreading “Kremlin-sponsored conspiracy theories”.