EU Referendum faces rejection on facebook

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a referendum on whether Britain should remain in the European Union to be held on Thursday 23 June. And to make people support this plan, Cameron has decided to spend £9.3 million of taxpayers’ money on sending a pro-EU booklet to every voter in the UK.

The government’s plan, however, met with severe criticism over the weekend after it was promoted in an advert “Look out for the government’s EU referendum leaflet or read it online now” on Facebook.

Within 48 hours of the government Facebook post going live, it generated nearly 3,500 interactions, in which more than a thousand people responded to the advert with Facebook’s “angry” reaction, rather than a “like”. Also, more than 200,000 people have signed a petition that directs that the government abandons the plan.

Veteran Tory Eurosceptic Sir BillCash, chairman of the Commons European scrutiny committee, said he would table an amendment to the finance bill – which enacts the budget – which could block its progress if passed in a Commons vote. “I am putting down a very big indicator of the anger and, I would go so far as to say, the fury of people who are being asked to pay – and there are millions of them in the country – for a pamphlet to 27m homes.”

Government’s Facebook post received comments such as, “Total waste of public monies given most of the general public will not even read them and they will end up in the bin” and “Outrageous waste of public money. If Cameron had a hand in writing it we all know it will be a pack of lies.”

The leaflet is expected to arrive in some households in England from today – with delivery to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland delayed until after devolved government elections in May.

The government, which is not neutral in the referendum but is arguing for a remain vote, has pointed out that there is a precedent for the government to produce information ahead of referendums. It did so before the previous Europe referendum in 1973.