BF4EU (Brexit Facts4EU) has been around since before the 2016 EU referendum, but has only recently come to attention. Its main resource is Brexit Index, which it claims “delivers the most definitive source of easily findable facts on all aspects of Brexit”. BF4EU also possesses a ‘Brexit Battle Pack and Toolbox’, which provides a collection of resources to target MPs and the media. The pack/toolbox
describes Tory MP Anna Soubry as an ‘extremist’ (presumably because she supports a People’s Vote) and
advocates that Tory Remainer Amber Rudd should resign her seat as MP. The bulk of the pack/toolbox contains advice and information on how to contact MPs and the media.
BF4EU is endorsed by a number of groups that promote a hard Brexit or No Deal. These include:
Get Britain Out The Freedom Association (Better Off Out) Veterans for Britain Fishing For Leave
The Bruges Group
The Time Party
The Campaign for an Independent Britain
Alliance of British Entrepreneurs
Scots for Leave
Leavers of London (renamed Leavers of Britain)
Democrats & Veterans Party
Global Britain
Allegedly, BF4EU is endorsed by Matthew Elliott, who joined with Paul Staines (aka ‘Guido Fawkes’) and others to develop a UK voter database. Elliott subsequently went on to head up Vote Leave and Brexit Central.
These new-wave pro-Brexit groups are, of course, complemented by the more well-known organisations, such as UKIP. Nor must we forget that old stalwart Leave.EU financier Arron Banks, who is also under investigation by multiple agencies:
Arron Banks back with his targeted Facebook ads.
The febrile debate by parliamentarians that is a consequence of gross government ineptitude will inevitably be complemented by hard-fought campaigns on all sides of the Brexit divide. But the tactics will likely differ from those adopted by the original Leave campaigns, given that both Leave.EU and Vote Leave were found to have acted illegally.
Nevertheless, this is still largely a battle between the right and progressives.
So what are the facts? Spotty Dog's post claims "The EU27 countries made a profit of £95 BILLION in selling goods to the UK last year." But the
House of Commons Library disagrees. It states: Exports of goods and services to other EU countries were worth £274 billion in 2017, while exports from the rest of the EU to the UK were worth about £341 billion. But let's look at something that Spotty Dog's site doesn't want to publicise.
1. Those figures will differ if you look at EU data, and the Office for National Statistics told us that this is because EU countries collect data about services in different ways.
2. You can't treat the entire EU as a single country, which is what the pro-brexit sites like to do. Among the 28 different countries that comprise the EU none exports more to us than we do to them. Of course,if you're daft enough to say it's just two countries - the EU and UK - then obviously we'll import more. After all, there are 27 other countries all seeking an export market.
That, of course, is not what the post above wants you to think about.