LONDON- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to begin one of the biggest ad campaigns since WWII to get Britain prepared for a no-deal Brexit turned out to be largely ineffective, according to a government’s spending watchdog’s report.
The campaign labelled “Get Ready for Brexit” stated the UK would leave the EU by October 31st 2019 and urged the public to head on over to an updated website to see what’s needed in preparation for a no-deal Brexit.
At the end of it all, the Parliament voted for an extension of the exit date to January 31st and Johnson finally struck a divorce agreement with EU.
In preparation for the Brexit campaign, a budget of 100 million pounds had been set aside by the government. This amount was to cover ads on TV, radio, papers, billboards and online platforms. Other methods of campaigning like roadshows and campaigns for targetted groups were also held.
The National Audit Office arrived at the conclusion that the number of individuals who looked or began looking for information on a no-deal Brexit didn’t notably change with the ad campaign.
Those who looked up information ranged from 32% to 37% over the duration of the campaign. Towards the end, the figure was at 34%.
At the time, lawmakers criticised the government that the campaign was misleading and a waste of money. The campaign ended up spending 46 million pounds of the total 100 million budget.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.