Britain’s Future: the shady no-deal Brexit group that spent £366,000 trying to sink Theresa May’s deal on Facebook There is no indication of where Britain’s Future is getting its money from

A campaign group supporting a no-deal Brexit appears to have spent more on Facebook adverts than any major political party and the Government put together.

Britain’s Future has spent in excess of £366,000 on Facebook to advocate for a hard exit from the EU and rubbish Theresa May’s deal. It has launched 2,860 adverts since October 2018, according to the social media platform’s transparency tool that launched in the same month.



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But as of 11 March, the group had no active ads despite reportedly having spent nearly £22,000 on 480 ads in the previous week.

It comes as questions were raised about where Britain’s Future, which is fronted by writer and political activist Tim Dawson, gets its money from.

Mr Dawson has so far declined to reveal the identities of his financial backers and the Electoral Commission says groups like Britain’s Future are not required to declare their donations at present.

Britain’s Future

The campaign posts stories about the positive aspects associated with cutting all ties with the EU as well as critical articles about the Brexit deal on its website.

According to Facebook’s Ad Library, individual Britain’s Future adverts cost up to £499. Many of them follow a similar format of encouraging users to contact their MP and urging them “to respect Brexit”.

The text of a typical advert reads: “Don’t let them stop Brexit, Don’t let them delay Brexit, Delay means Remain.”

Behind Britain’s Future in terms of Facebook spending is the pro-EU group People’s Vote, which wants a second referendum on Brexit. The group has spent more than £311,000 since October 2018.

Facebook pages representing the Government, the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems have spent less than £320,000 on advertising.

Page name – amount spent – number of ads in library Britain’s Future – £366,754 – 2,860 People’s Vote UK – £311,019 – 2,807 Best for Britain – £259,254 – 787 UK government – £129,980 – 18 Conservatives – £86,486 – 1,539 Liberal Democrats – £53,127 – 2,144 The Labour Party – £46,722 – 246 We are the 52% – £43,422 – 248 International Rescue Committee Europe – £31,365 – 19 Friends of the Earth – £26,098 – 543 See the full list here

‘Donations from Brexiteers’

The secrecy around the financial backing of Britain’s Future has raised concerns about where the money is coming from.

Mr Dawson, who worked on the programme Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and stood for election to Manchester City Council as a Conservative candidate, previously told the BBC he was “raising small donations from friends and fellow Brexiteers” but refused to reveal any more.

It also appears Britain’s Future has spent money on Google advertising to ensure they appear next to Brexit search engine results.

According to the Guardian, the Facebook page for Britain’s Future initially suggested an association to Colin Banner, a former British National Party candidate. The “About Us” page included a map featuring Rorke’s Drift farm where Mr Banner lives. However any such map appears to have been removed.

Mr Dawson told the newspaper: “Britain’s Future has never associated with, nor would it ever associate with Colin Banner, or any BNP member. I have never met with, spoken to, or associated with Colin Banner, or any BNP member, nor would I want to. To state otherwise would be untrue.

“Designing the website required selecting a point on the map of the UK. The coordinates were randomly selected so the map of the UK would display centrally on the webpage. It was solely a design decision.

“The purpose of Britain’s Future is to represent the views of 17.4 million people who voted to leave the European Union – regardless of background. This is about delivering on the result of the referendum.”

i has contacted Britain’s Future for comment.

Transparency of digital campaigning

The Electoral Commission told i that as a non-party campaigner, groups like Britain’s Future were not required to report donations to the commission outside of a regulated period.

“As a relevant election or UK-wide referendum is not forthcoming, there are no rules relating to the permissibility of donations received by campaigners, nor any requirement for campaigners to submit details of spending they are undertaking to influence voters.

“During a regulated period however, registered campaigners can only accept donations that they use for regulated campaign activity from permissible sources. After the election or referendum registered campaigners then need to report all donations of over £7,500 and the total amount of donations between £500 and £7,500. They also would need to submit a spending return and we then publish this information. Any changes to the law and/or our remit would need to be brought forward by Parliament.”

The Electoral Commission has said it supports any moves to improve the transparency of digital campaigning.