Arron Banks, the businessman who bankrolled one of the pro-Brexit campaigns in the 2016 referendum, has said he would now vote to remain in the European Union. Mr Banks, whose donations to Leave.EU are being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA), blamed the British government's handling of Brexit for his change of heart.
“The corruption I have seen in British politics, the sewer that exists and the disgraceful behaviour of the government over what they are doing with Brexit and how they are selling it out means that if I had my time again I think we would have been better to probably remain and not unleash these demons,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
Mr Banks insisted that there was "no Russian money, no interference" in the £8 million he gave to Leave.EU and that the money came from UK-registered firm Rock Services. Mr Banks told the House of Commons digital, culture, media and sport select committee last June that Rock Services did not generate revenue but he appeared to contradict that evidence on Sunday.
“There was no Russian money and no interference of any type. I want to be absolutely clear about that. The money came from Rock Services which was a UK limited company, it was generated out of insurance business written in the UK,” he said.
Funding claims
“Contrary to some of the press reports in the FT and other Remain-leaning publications, we insure nearly half a million customers a year – the size of Manchester. We turn over £250 million of premiums. It’s a sizeable business.”
Anti-Brexit campaigners have called for Britain's withdrawal from the EU to be halted until questions surrounding the referendum's funding are cleared up. British and EU negotiators meet on Monday in Brussels amid mounting speculation that a deal is imminent, with a compromise on the Northern Ireland backstop within reach.
The two sides are considering a compromise that would see a UK-wide customs arrangement with the EU sitting alongside a de-dramatised Northern Ireland-specific backstop. The latter would require some regulatory checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland but would not state explicitly that Northern Ireland would be treated as part of the EU’s customs territory.
Customs union
Some EU member-states have misgivings about a UK-wide customs arrangement, fearing it could give British exporters a competitive advantage over their EU counterparts after Brexit. Brexiteers at Westminster fear that Britain could be trapped indefinitely in a customs union with the EU, limiting its scope for negotiating new trade deals.
More than 70 business leaders have signed a letter demanding a second referendum to allow voters to decide whether to accept a Brexit deal or to remain in the EU.
“The business community was promised that, if the country voted to leave, there would continue to be frictionless trade with the EU and the certainty about future relations that we need to invest for the long term,” the letter said.
“Despite the prime minister’s best efforts, the proposals being discussed by the government and the European Commission fall far short of this, and they are not nearly as good as the current deal we have inside the EU. The uncertainty over the past two years has already led to a slump in investment, which will make our country poorer.”
