Brexit latest: George Soros gives another £100,000 to pro-Remain group Best for Britain as he 'takes the fight' to critics

George Soros hit back at claims his donations were anti-democracy
AP
Eleanor Rose12 February 2018

George Soros has pledged a further £100,000 to a group dedicated to stopping Brexit, bringing his total donation to £500,000 according to reports.

Best for Britain, an organisation seeking to keep Britain in the EU, told news agency Reuters by email that the billionaire financier will match any donations given to them up to £100,000 after attacks against him in the right-wing press.

"I am happy to take the fight to those who have tried to use a smear campaign, not arguments, to prop up their failing case," Mr Soros told the Guardian, which reported the donation on Sunday.

A crowdfunding campaign set up by Mr Soros's Open Society Foundation has already raised £59,625.

Mr Soros has said Britain's preoccupation with leaving the EU leaves Europe open to attacks from Putin's Russia
AFP/Getty Images

Mr Soros has defended his decision to hand a previous £400,000 to the pro-remain group, calling the decision to leave the EU a "tragic mistake".

The tycoon denied accusations that he was "undermining democracy" and hit back at what he called "toxic personal criticism" against him.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he said Best for Britain had his "wholehearted support" and that he had never made a secret of his opposition to Brexit.

He said: "The fact that conditions are unsatisfactory does not mean that they can't get worse. That is what has happened in Britain.

"Before the referendum Britain was doing better economically than the rest of Europe. But this has now been reversed, with Continental economies powering ahead while Britain lags behind."

Hungarian-born Mr Soros, one of the world's richest men who made a billion dollars betting against sterling on Black Wednesday in 1992, said Britain would "lose much of its global influence" outside of Europe.

He added: "To make matters worse, the divorce process will preoccupy both Britain and Europe for years ahead, when they should be uniting to resist external enemies like Putin's Russia and resolve the internal contradictions that made some people regard the EU as their enemy."

He also said Brexit had turned young against old, saying young people had become disillusioned with democracy after older votes "overruled" them in the referendum.

Declaring himself a "proud supporter" of Best for Britain, he warned that the effects of the uncertainty created by Brexit would become "painfully obvious" in the next six months as negotiations entered the "most contentious phase".

Mr Soros's donation to Best for Britain was first reported in the Daily Telegraph, in a story written by a team including Theresa May's former chief of staff Nick Timothy.

Mr Timothy, who backed the Leave cause, used his column in the newspaper to claim that Best for Britain wanted to bring down Mrs May's government.

He wrote: "The objective is to convince MPs to vote against the deal Theresa May negotiates with Brussels, regardless of its content and despite the risk that doing so could mean Britain leaves the EU with no alternative agreement in place.

"Malloch-Brown and his backers believe that, if Parliament rejects the Brexit deal, the Government will fall, and Brexit can then be stopped."

But Lord Malloch-Brown, chairman of Best for Britain, said: "We think the British people deserve a final say on the Brexit deal and believe the country has been led down a dangerous false turn.

"This is a democratic and patriotic effort to recover our future and we welcome support for our efforts from many quarters."

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