The Government spent over £9m on a pro-EU leaflet to be distributed to every household before the official campaign began, backed up by a major social media campaign. This is deeply unfair. But it’s no surprise to me. I’ve seen it all before, running up to the 1975 referendum, when I was the National Agent for the campaign for leaving what was then the Common Market.
In 1975 there were three leaflets delivered to all households. One was from the National Referendum Campaign, who wanted the UK to come out. One was from Britain in Europe, who wanted us to stay in. The third was from the government, backing up the Britain in Europe case. This was deeply unfair.
To be worthwhile, referendums have to be conducted equitably. This certainly was not what happened in 1975. We were deluged by propaganda heavily weighted in favour of the stay-in campaign.
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