The question of Britain’s membership of the European Union has been tearing the Conservative party apart for decades. So it’s no huge surprise that the jockeying to become the main campaign group to leave the EU resembles – to outsiders, at least - the squabbling between the various People’s Fronts of Judea in Monty Python’s Life of Brian. So here’s a handy guide* to the groups (and some key figures) keen for a future in which the only impact of Brussels on British life is in its sprouts.
*until they schism again next week
Vote Leave
Supposedly moderate campaign group with support from Ukip, Labour and Tory MPs. Has soiled that reputation slightly by sending two students to heckle David Cameron at a CBI speech. Former Tory minister Eric Pickles suggested that Vote Leave’s intimidation of opponents renders it unfit to lead the out campaign.
They say: “A vote to leave and a better, friendlier relationship with the EU is much safer than giving Brussels more power and money every year.”
Key people:
Dominic Cummings
Former Michael Gove advisor. Apparently nicknamed Colonel Kurtz by Tory critics. An attempt by Eurosceptic MP Bernard “Captain Willard” Jenkin to oust him failed last week.
Matthew Elliott
Founder of the Taxpayers’ Alliance and Big Brother Watch, and successfully led the NotoAV referendum campaign. Says he would invite the following people to his dream dinner party: “Lenin, Ayn Rand, Grover Norquist, Ronald Reagan, Lee Atwater and Dominic Cummings.”
Leave.EU
Originally launched as The Know, it changed its name in October. It has been accused of being a Ukip front, due to the prominence of Arron Banks, Nigel Farage and spokesman Andy Wigmore, who campaigned for Ukip in the general election.
They say: “Let’s take a stand. Together, we can win back our country!”
Key person:
Arron Banks
The former Tory donor gave Ukip £1m before the general election. He has publicly proposed merging with Vote Leave. Also noted for calling Ukip MP (and Vote Leave supporter) Douglas Carswell “borderline autistic with mental illness wrapped in”.
Grassroots Out (Go!)
Launched in Kettering on the Saturday before last as a response to the squabbling between the two groups vying to be the official leave campaign. Contrary to their name, they don’t want to see grassroots kicked out of the UK (unless they’re claiming benefits, presumably).
They say: “[This is] an organisation that unites people from all political persuasions, and none, into one effective anti-EU campaign.”
Key people:
Kate Hoey and Peter Bone
Hoey, the most prominent anti-EU Labour MP, helped launch Vote Leave and Labour Leave before teaming up with Bone, a man whose name is almost never unaccompanied by the words “veteran” and “Eurosceptic”.
Better Off Out
Long-established, low-rent, non-party-affiliated campaign group led by the Freedom Association – who you may remember from such campaigns as the one to allow English cricketers to play in apartheid-era South Africa.
They say: “Our task is to take Britain out of the European Union. It will be done!”
Key people:
Norman Tebbit and Frederick Forsyth
The campaign’s patrons. Forsyth says the EU and UK are incompatible and “only fools and fanatics go on denying it”.
Nigel Farage
A man for all Brexit seasons. A key figure in Leave.EU but has also said there’s room for Vote Leave. Meanwhile, he attended the Grassroots Out launch party and even has a good word to say about Better Off Out – which, he says, has “redefined Euroscepticism in Britain”.
Key people:
Nigel Farage.
