News / Politics

Top Brexit campaign financier denies Russia money was in use

Sunday, 04 November 2018 4:14 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 04 November 2018 6:08 PM ]

In this file photo taken on June 12, 2018 Brexit campaign donor and businessman Arron Banks arrives at Portcullis House to give evidence to Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee in London on June 12, 2018. (AFP photo)

The co-founder of Leave.EU, an organization that campaigned for Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum, has denied he received any money from Russia, saying the movement was popular and was largely funded through donations from supporters.

"There was no Russian money or interference of any type, I just want to be absolutely clear about that," Arron Banks said on Sunday in response to reports that his Leave.EU campaign was influenced by Russia.

Banks, a major businessman who ardently supports Brexit, co-founded and financed Leave.EU, an organization that campaigned for Brexit in the June 2016 EU membership referendum.

Banks was also one of the largest donors to the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and bankrolled Nigel Farage’s campaign to leave the EU.

He has been accused of providing money to the campaign through illegal channels, something he denies vehemently.

This June 12, 2018 file photo shows Brexit campaign donor and businessman Arron Banks arriving at Portcullis House to give evidence to Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee in London. (AFP photo)

Banks told the BBC that his group of insurance businesses generated the eight million pounds that was given to the Leave.EU before the Brexit referendum.

Banks also repeated his previous statements in an interview with the Sunday Times this week that he would now vote to remain in the EU, saying the “corrupt” British politicians had changed the course of Brexit to their benefit.

“The sewer that exists, the disgraceful behavior of the government in how they are selling us out means that if I had my time again, I think we would have been better to probably remain and not unleash these demons,” he told BBC’s the Andrew Marr Show.

Top Brexiteers like Banks have accused the Conservative-led government of Prime Minister Theresa May of backtracking from its promises after the 2016 referendum and trying to keep Britain as close as possible to the EU after Brexit.