Pro-euro coalition in crisis as funds dry up
The Times, 2000-08-18

Britain's main pro-euro pressure group is stricken by a funding crisis and deep divisions over strategy, according to leaked documents passed to The Times.

Minutes from Britain in Europe’s board meetings reveal that the organisation has raised only a third of its annual budget this year and lost its treasurer because he objected to Downing Street tying the group’s hands.

The organisation, set up to bring together politicians from all parties and leading figures from business, was expected to act as a magnet for donations to the pro-euro cause. But the minutes show that it has been guaranteed only £475,000 of its £1.2 million budget for this year.

Lord Sharman, the Liberal Democrat peer and former chairman of KPMG bank, decided to quit last month after warning fellow directors that businesses ”felt unwilling to contribute to the campaign”.

He told the board that BiE’s aims were ”perceived to be political” by many firms. He added that pro-euro business leaders would not donate to the group ”unless it was seen to campaign more directly on the single currency”.

His comments came amid a growing dispute over strategy between Downing Street loyalists within BiE and members of the cross-party group from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. They have complained that the organisation has been handicapped by having to stay in line with government policy.

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown agreed to sign up to BiE last year on condition that it did not commit them to supporting British entry to the single currency.

Although BiE has been more vocal in recent months about the economic costs of staying out of the euro, it cannot campaign for entry until the Government has decided whether to hold a referendum on the issue after the election.

Minutes of a board meeting held on May 3 report: ”There was a discussion of the constraints the campaign’s coalition imposed on its actions.”

One senior Labour figure said yesterday: ”Britain in Europe is seen by most of its Tory and Liberal members as a front for the Government. It is classic example of why three-party campaigns don’t work.”

In a memo leaked to The Times last month, Philip Gould, the Prime Minister’s personal pollster, warned Mr Blair that Labour risked coming across to voters as extreme unless it got its tactics right over the euro. He said that for the Tories, the issue of Europe was a ”life preserver”, making them ”relevant and more electable”.

The memo said that if Labour tried to marginalise the Tories by attacking them as extreme, the strategy would backfire. ”More voters at this point are inclined to believe the opposite charge - that Labour is extreme, determined to abandon the pound and create a European superstate.”

However, many pro-euro politicians and business leaders fear that unless the campaign for a ”yes” vote begins now, they stand little chance of winning any future referendum.

Much of the hostility is being directed at Simon Buckby, BiE’s director and a former Labour adviser who is seen as too close to Downing Street. However, others claim that he is being made a scapegoat for the Treasury’s refusal to adjust the Government’s ”prepare and decide” policy.

”As we get closer to the election, the Tories and Lib Dems have little reason to want to help the Government and Buckby is getting caught in the crossfire,” one BiE insider said.The lack of funds is also damaging BiE’s ability to turn the tide of public opinion on the single currency. According to the leaked minutes, last year the group raised only £851,000 and, after wages and running costs are paid, there is little left for campaigning.

The minutes show that there has been a ”generous donation” from BP, as well as £25,000 contributions from British American Tobacco and Unilever, which is headed by the BiE board member Niall Fitzgerald, and has provided a the organisation with a new treasurer in Guy Walker.

But there is frustration within the organisation that many of its high-profile business supporters have failed to contribute anything. Minutes of BiE’s board meeting on June 16 say: ”It was emphasised that each board member has a responsibility for fund-raising”.

Much of BiE’s income is understood to come from Lord Sainsbury of Turville, the Science Minister, who gave up to £400,000 last year through the sister organisation, the European Movement. He is thought to have contributed the bulk of the £475,000 raised so far this year.

A spokesman refused to discuss the contents of the leaked minutes but said: ”We will publish a list of our donors in our annual report.”

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