Brexit campaign wipes homepage after holes in Leave argument exposed

THE Leave campaign has wiped its homepage of the material it used to successfully argue that Britons should vote to exit the EU.

The Leave campaign’s text-heavy homepage has been replaced with a muted design.

THE Leave campaign has wiped its homepage of the material it used to successfully argue that Britons should vote to exit the EU.

A ticker counting up “total UK contributions to the EU” has disappeared, along with a tagline demanding: “We should stop sending £350 million per week to unelected politicians in Brussels, and spend our money on our priorities, like the NHS.”

The £350 million figure has been thoroughly debunked, with Leave campaigner and UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage admitting they made a “mistake” in saying that amount would go to funding the NHS and other projects.

The amount sent to the EU each week in 2014 was £276 million, the BBC reported, a little over £100m of which is spent in the UK, for example on subsidising farmers and research, which the Leave campaign promised to continue until 2020.

The website now displays a simple “Thank you” message, along with the words: “This is your victory.”

A video has been expunged from the page along with a long manifesto entitled “Facts about the European Union”.

A ticker counting ‘UK contributions to the EU’ has been removed, along with a long section entitled ‘Facts about the European Union’.

The text, which can still be accessed through Google’s archives, read: “More than a quarter of a million people came to the UK from the EU in the 12 months to September 2015 — the equivalent of a city the size of Plymouth or Newcastle in a year. If this rate continues for a decade, there will be more than two million extra people.

“EU law means all members must accept ‘free movement of people’. Many immigrants contribute to our society. They also affect public services. Experts disagree on the overall effect.”

It also claimed Britain had “no control” over how its money is spent in the EU (despite having elected representatives there) and quoted MI6 chief Richard Dearlove saying the UK would have “greater control over immigration from the European Union”.

Since the vote, Brexiteers have backed away from key pledges on immigration and the amount that could be saved by not being part of the single market, sparking criticism about the lack of planning that had gone into what would happen if the Leave campaign won.

Brexit campaigner and favourite to be elected British prime minister Boris Johnson has sought to calm panic about what leaving the EU could really mean. Picture: Ben Stansall

“I cannot stress too much that Britain is part of Europe,” Boris Johnson wrote in the UK’s Daily Telegraph on Monday. “The only change — and it will not come in any great rush — is that the UK will extricate itself from the EU’s extraordinary and opaque system of legislation.”

The Vote Leave website still contains similar content to that removed from the homepage, but it is buried within sections and subsections.

Since Britain voted to leave the EU by 52 to 48 per cent, many who supported a Brexit have admitted they are feeling what’s been dubbed “Bregret” over their choice.

Some said they had been uninformed or misled when they made their choice and had not fully understood the consequences of leaving.

Britain is now grappling with the fallout from the vote. Gibraltar, Scotland and even Northern Ireland may now leave the UK, disturbing incidents of racism and unrest are emerging on the streets and global stock markets have taken a pummelling.

It will be some time before the full ramifications of Britain’s shock departure from the EU after 43 years make themselves clear.

The Leave campaign is hoping it doesn’t have to take the blame for a total disaster.

Leave campaigner and UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage has admitted claims Britain could now put 350 million pounds back into funding the NHS were a ‘mistake’. Picture: Matt Dunham