Vote Leave bus

The Vote Leave campaign used a large red battle bus in the lead up to the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. A decal on the side of the bus made the false claim and following pledge that "We send the EU £350 million a week, let's fund our NHS instead",[1] accompanied with the slogan "Let's take back control".[2] The bus became one of the most prominent symbols of the campaign.[2]

The £350 million figure, conceived by Vote Leave campaign leader Dominic Cummings,[3] was disputed by the UK Statistics Authority and Institute for Fiscal Studies as well as other media, though Vote Leave continued to stand by the figure,[4] and the bus continued to be featured in news media.[1] Cummings has credited the words on the bus for the Leave campaign's victory, and 42 percent of people who had heard of the claim still believed it was true by 2018.

  1. ^ a b Kanter, Jake (6 October 2016). "David Cameron's former spin doctor: The BBC should have banned the red Brexit bus". Business Insider. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b Oliver, Tim (3 September 2020). "A History of Brexit in 47 Objects: The Story of Leave". London School of Economics. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  3. ^ Merrick, Rob (25 March 2018). "Brexit director who created £350m NHS claim admits leaving EU could be 'an error'". The Independent. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  4. ^ Henley, Jon (10 June 2016). "Why Vote Leave's £350m weekly EU cost claim is wrong". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 September 2024.