Sir Cover-Up refuses to rein in Whitehall’s EU propaganda push
JEREMY Heywood was warned against breaking electoral law last night over pro-EU ‘propaganda’ plastered on Government websites.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and former London mayor Boris Johnson wrote to the Cabinet Secretary, known as ‘Sir Cover-Up’, demanding that pro-EU material be removed from the sites by the end of the week.
In a joint letter signed by 28 MPs, they warned: ‘Failure to carry this out will put both ministers and civil servants in breach of the law, of the Ministerial Code and of the Civil Service Code. Please can you reassure us that you will act.’
Brexit campaigners say several Government websites will breach electoral law if they continue to promote a pro-EU message when the Whitehall ‘purdah’ period kicks in tomorrow.
After this date, the Government machine cannot be used to persuade people to vote a particular way. But a spokesman for Sir Jeremy said: ‘We will of course comply with the law on communications during purdah and are confident this will not require removing already published material on our websites.’
It came as Commons Speaker John Bercow ordered ministers to stop blocking awkward parliamentary questions about the cost of EU membership. Brexit supporters claim Sir Jeremy has ordered departments to delay answering difficult questions until after the referendum.
Conservative MP Anne Main said: ‘They are trying to muzzle those of us who are attempting to get to the truth. The Government is acting disgracefully.’
Controversial examples of taxpayer-funded ‘propaganda’ include:
A redesigned Treasury website, which highlights contentious claims by George Osborne that the economy will be plunged into recession in the event of Brexit. Visitors to the site are greeted with a message in huge letters saying: ‘UK economy would fall into RECESSION if Britain leaves the EU.’
The Downing Street website, where the top four news items all feature warnings from David Cameron about the perils of leaving the EU.
The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, run by Sajid Javid, whose home page links to a story headed: ‘Life science leaders say UK is better off in a reformed EU.’
Mr Osborne came under sustained fire over the Government’s aggres- sively pro-EU campaign when he stood in for Mr Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons yesterday. Senior Tory Bernard Jenkin said independent legal advice suggested that warnings emblazoned on the Treasury’s website breached impartiality rules.
Mr Jenkin asked Mr Osborne: ‘In (your) enthusiasm to bludgeon the British voter into supporting a European Union that they do not really like, how can (you) justify planning to break the law?’
Mr Osborne defended the Government’s websites, saying: ‘Of course the Government will comply with the law and the Government websites will comply with the purdah rules. We are confident that they do so.’
‘They are trying to muzzle us’