Soros backs plan to thwart Brexit
BRITAIN: George Soros, the billionaire investor known as the man who ‘‘broke the Bank of England’’, is backing a campaign to overturn Brexit.
Soros is one of three senior figures linked to the Remainsupporting campaign group Best For Britain who plan to launch a nationwide advertising campaign this month, which they hope will lead to a second referendum to keep Britain in the European Union.
The campaign is trying to recruit major Conservative donors in an attempt to undermine Prime Minister Theresa May.
It also plans to target MPS and convince them to vote against the final Brexit deal to trigger another referendum or general election, according to a strategy document leaked from a meeting of the group. The document says the campaign, which will begin by the end of this month, must ‘‘wake the country up and assert that Brexit is not a done deal. That it’s not too late to stop Brexit’’.
It adds that a series of Momentum-style mass rallies and concerts are planned, and that the campaign will have a ‘‘heavy youth focus’’.
The memo also reveals a plan to ‘‘pressure’’ MPS in 100 Leavesupporting constituencies, and sets out how organisers ‘‘have a range of guerrilla marketing tactics’’ to build momentum.
Soros’s involvement emerged after he entertained six Conservative donors at his London home last week.
It comes more than 25 years after he made more than £1 billion betting against the pound shortly before the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. More recently, he has been accused of organising rallies against President Donald Trump in the United States, and interfering in the democracies of several European nations.
Also at the dinner were Stephen Peel, a businessman and former Olympic rower who is also said to be putting money into the new venture and is on the board of Best For Britain; Lord Malloch-brown, a former Labour minister and chairman of Best For Britain; and Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of advertising firm WPP.
A select group of Tory donors was also hosted by Soros, who has donated £400,000 to Best For Britain through his Open Society Foundation.
The donors were told that the group’s goal was ‘‘to raise public support for Remain to a clear and growing national majority by June-july 2018, and channelling that pressure into MPS’ mailbags and surgeries’’.
The document concludes that the movement ‘‘must then win the meaningful vote that Mrs May has promised on her Brexit deal in October’’, and adds that if she loses, ‘‘it is likely to trigger a new referendum, or election’’.
‘‘We must prevail decisively so reassuring Europe that our return will be permanent,’’ it states.
However, sources at the dinner said the message fell flat and the donors left without pledging any money.
The campaign organisers have spoken previously of their desire for Britain to remain in the EU. Soros said last year that Brexit was a ‘‘lose-lose proposition’’, and Peel has set out his vision for how Brexit could be overturned by gathering public support with concerts and rallies.
Neither Soros nor Peel responded to questions.
Malloch-brown hinted at his plan in an interview last year. He said: ‘‘We need to sway public opinion nationally so that there is a majority to remain at the time of the vote in Parliament. We also have to lobby in constituencies in a targeted way so we are reaching Leave-voting MPS in constituencies where the majority voted Remain, and we have to work in constituencies where Remain MPS have been cowed by the support for Leave in their seats.’’
Malloch-brown said yesterday Best For Britain had declared all financial contributions, and that Soros had made ‘‘significant contributions to our work’’.
Sorrell said he was not involved in drafting the documents, and his company was not ‘‘so far’’ expected to play any role in the strategies discussed.
The memo also reveals that the group plans to provide financial support to European Movement, another campaign group which counts Stephen Dorrell, a former health minister, and Kenneth Clarke, a former chancellor of the exchequer, as chairman and vicepresident. Their inclusion in the strategy will raise questions about whether backbench Tory MPS are working against their party in a bid to block Brexit.
– Telegraph Group