Grassroots Out
Grassroots Out is one of the key campaign groups petitioning people to vote for Britain to leave the EU in a referendum scheduled for 23 June 2016.
It has a mixture of cross-party and national support, including UKIP leader Nigel Farage and leader of the Respect party George Galloway.
It was beaten off by Vote Leave in the contest to become the official leave campaign for the EU referendum.
Tycoon's £1 million Brexit boost
Following a fairly disastrous week for the Leave campaign, in which President Barack Obama gave a dire warning about trade relationships following Brexit and Boris Johnson embarrassed the campaign by trawling up the President's Kenyan heritage, car distributor Robert Edmiston donated £150,000 to Grassroots Out, and another £850,000 to fellow leave campaign Vote Leave.
In response to Obama's drastic intervention, Edmiston commented 'The idea that the American government would not want to do business with us if we left the EU is absolutely risible. It's the worst sort of scaremongering...'I have been importing and exporting for years and do not anticipate any difficulties if we leave the EU. There might be a bit of disruption but it's in America's interests to do a deal with Britain which is the world's fifth largest economy.' [1]
Donors
Recorded by the Electoral Commission:
| Date | Name of donor | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 31/03/2016 | Better for the Country | £1,952,374.76 |
| 08/02/2016 | IM Group | £50,000 |
| 18/04/2016 | Richard Tice | £14,000 |
| 18/04/2016 | Peter William Bone | £13,250 |
| 18/04/2016 | Tom Pursglove | £10,300 |
Notes
- ↑ Andrew Pierce, 'Tycoon's £1m Brexit boost: Businessmen hands money to two groups in bid to get leave campaign back on track', 26 April 2016, Daily Mail Online, accessed 17 May 2016
- ↑ Electoral Commission, Grassroots Out Donor Search, accessed 12 May 2016
