Man who ‘broke the Bank of England’ backing secret plot to thwart Brexit
Billionaire financier Soros hosts campaign dinner to undermine May and keep Britain in the EU
GEORGE SOROS, the billionaire known as the man who “broke the Bank of England”, is backing a campaign to overturn Brexit, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
The investor is one of three senior figures linked to the Remain-supporting 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 EU.
The campaign is trying to recruit major Tory donors in an attempt to undermine 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 Momentumstyle mass rallies and concerts are planned and the campaign will have a “heavy youth focus”. The memo also reveals a plan to “pressure” MPS in 100 Leave-supporting constituencies, and sets out how organisers “have a range of guerrilla marketing tactics” to build momentum.
Mr Soros’s involvement emerged after he entertained six Conservative donors at his Chelsea house last Monday.
His involvement comes more than 25 years after he made more than £1 billion betting against the pound shortly before the UK withdrew from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. More recently he has been accused of organising rallies against Donald Trump in the US 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 Mal- loch-brown, the former Labour minister and chairman of Best for Britain; and Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of the advertising firm WPP. A select group of Tory donors were also hosted by Mr 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 the UK to remain in the EU. Mr Soros said last year that Brexit was a “lose-lose proposition”, and Mr Peel has set out his vision for how Brexit could be overturned by gathering public support with concerts and rallies.
Neither Mr Soros nor Mr Peel responded to questions about their involvement in the campaign or dinner.
Lord 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.”
The wording is very similar to the note circulated at the funding dinner.
Last night, Lord Malloch-brown said that Best for Britain had declared all financial contributions and that Mr Soros had made “significant contributions to our work”.
Sir Martin has warned previously that Brexit has damaged the UK’S global reputation and was a vocal Remain supporter. He said that 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, the former health minister, and Kenneth Clarke, the former chancellor, as chairman and vice-president. Their inclusion in the strategy will raise questions about whether backbench Tory MPS are working against their party in a bid to block Brexit.