Euroskeptic campaign group Leave.EU has accused Guy Verhofstadt of “rancid fake news” and called for him to be “locked up,” after the MEP claimed the group’s founder, Arron Banks, had “colluded” with Russia on Brexit.
Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit spokesperson, claimed in a tweet Wednesday that Banks had worked with the Russians to deliver Brexit and took a swipe at UKIP leader and prominent Brexiteer Nigel Farage, calling him one of “Putin’s cheerleaders.”
Banks — a wealthy businessman who gave £9 million to the Farage-supported pro-Brexit campaign — has been accused of meeting with Russian officials during the 2016 Brexit campaign, amid concerns of Russian influence in the vote. Leave.EU has also been fined £70,000 for multiple breaches of electoral law during the Brexit campaign, including exceeding its spending limit and not accurately declaring its funding and spending.
In an email sent to supporters Friday, the pro-Brexit group attacked the “gap-toothed” MEP as a “fanatical Europhile” and dismissed his accusations as part of a “cuckoo conspiracy” by the Brussels elite to “discredit key Brexit figures and, ultimately, reverse the result of the referendum.”
The group claimed Banks had instructed his lawyers to “challenge” Verhofstadt over his “highly defamatory tweet” and warned the MEP would face legal action if he did not apologize and remove the tweet.
“If Mr Verhofstadt still thinks he’s above the law, then he’s going to get a shock,” the group said. “If he doesn’t remove the baseless lies that he’s put out on social media, he could soon find himself on the wrong side of a European Arrest Warrant. Oh, the irony.”
The email also provided a link for supporters to make donations to get “Euromeddler Guy Verhofstadt locked up” and “do your bit in the fight against the rotten EU elite.”