EU referendum: David Cameron says £9m on pro-EU leaflets is 'money well spent'

Downing Street said the move was a response to polling which showed 85% of the public wanted more information

David Cameron addresses students at Exeter University (Reuters)

David Cameron has said he will make no apology for spending more than £9 million of taxpayers’ money on a pro-EU leaflet publicity drive ahead of the referendum, adding it’s “money well spent”.

Pro-Brexit campaigners and Conservative MPs reacted with fury to the government’s decision to send the leaflet to every household in the country, setting out the case for a “remain vote” on June 23. One Tory MP, Tom Pursglove, called it “frankly outrageous” and an “affront to democracy”.

Downing Street said the move was a response to polling which showed 85% of the public wanted more information from the Government to help them make an informed choice on June 23. The cost to each household for the 14-page booklet will be 34p, government sources added.

The Prime Minister made his comments as he took questions from Exeter University students, who grilled Mr Cameron on range of subjects including the Tata Steel crisis, Iain Duncan Smith’s resignation, tuition fees and tax avoidance in the wake of the Panama Papers.

Stamped with the HM Government logo, the leaflet says in large type: “Why the government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK.”

The Prime Minister told the rally of young people in Devon: "I make no apology for the fact that we are sending to every household in the country this leaflet which sets out what the Government's view is and why we come to that view.

"We are not neutral in this. We think it would be a bad decision to leave. We think it would be bad for our economy, bad for jobs, bad for investment, bad for families' finances.

"We think it would be bad for universities. We are not neutral so we have made a clear stance in this leaflet which everyone will get a copy of." He also warned young people had the “most to lose” from the UK leaving the European Union.

The Prime Minister added: "I don't want anyone to go to the polls not knowing what the Government thinks, and I think that is money well spent… It is not, in my view, just legal - I think is it necessary and right."

But the pro-Brexit Justice Secretary Michael Gove, speaking after the speech to BBC condemned the leaflet drive. He said: “What I think is wrong is spending £9 million of taxpayer’s money on one particular piece of one-sided propaganda. I think it is wrong that money that should be spent on priorities on like the NHS is being spent on Europe propaganda.”

He added: “But the critical thing is, I just think it’s wrong that at a time of austerity £9 million of taxpayers’ money is being spent on one-sided piece of propaganda.

The £9.5 million budget for the leaflet drive consists of £6 million for printing and delivering, £500,000 for design and almost £3 million for producing the website and promoting it on social media channels.

The Labour MP Graham Stringer, who supports the leave campaign, claimed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that news of the leaflet’s publication was an attempt to “divert attention from the prime minister’s immediate problems about his income”.

He said: “He is failing to answer questions. He hasn’t answered the questions about his historical income and whether that has come from tax havens or not. He needs to answer that question and it’s clearly very uncomfortable for him, and this diverts attention.”

Additional reporting by Press Association