Telegraph
Theresa Maywas accused of hypocrisy last night after it emerged the government has spent at least £50,000 on social media adverts promoting the Brexit deal.
The Cabinet Office confirmed that in the three months up to November 20 the Prime Minister’s office spent £52,509.84p on paid social media posts backing the deal.
A Facebook video featuring the prime ministers hails the deal as offering “certainty for business and economy”, concluding: “Now is the time to come together to build a brighter future.”
One, paid for to push it to the top of Google’s rankings, links to a website called Brexit Deal Explained which sets out the government’s case for the EU withdrawal agreement - and warns about the dangers of a no-deal Brexit.
It includes supportive quotes from businesses with Sir Roger Carr, chairman of BAE Systems, describing the deal as “going towards a lot of the aspects that we sought.”
MPs said it was hypocritical for a government that was seeking to crackdown on social media for avoiding tax and fake news to use it to promote “a deal that literally no-one wants.”
Layla Moran, the MP who extracted the information through parliamentary questions, said: “Mrs May should stop wasting money trying to sell her botched deal on social media as good news when it’s actually fake news.”
Eloise Todd, head of the Best for Britain campaign group, said it was hypocritical: “The government bash social media companies as purveyors of fake news and yet is pumping thousands into selling their bad Brexit deal. It is scandalous. it was a waste of money.
“The way they have constantly used the fear of no deal to sell their own can only be described as shameless propaganda.”
Tory MP Ben Bradley, a Brexiteer, said: "Cabinet ministers won't sell the Prime Minister's deal with the EU so No 10 is having to use taxpayers' money to try to buy support instead. This is not the mark of a strong Government or a sensible plan.
"I remember when the Government used £9 million during the referendum campaign to try to frighten people into voting to remain. The British public are fed up of this.
"The Withdrawal Agreement is a terrible deal - worse than Chequers, less popular than the poll tax and only one in five voters think it honours the referendum result.
"17.4 million people voted to leave the EU. This sort of behaviour will only strengthen our resolve against this terrible deal."
In its response, the Cabinet Office said it would fully disclose the amount spent. Last month it spent in total £44,219 marketing the government’s policies on Facebook.
A government spokesperson said: "Communicating government policy effectively to the public is a core function of the Civil Service.
"We have reached a deal that is good for the UK, good for its citizens, and good for business and we will be communicating that to the country. Any costs associated with this will be published in the usual way."
