Brexit Campaign Leaflet Draws Fire From Companies -- Update
June 16 2016 - 03:57PM
Dow Jones News
By Simon Zekaria
LONDON -- A clutch of multinational companies, including General
Electric Co., Unilever PLC and Airbus Group SE, are protesting the
use of their corporate names and logos on promotional leaflets sent
by campaigners pushing for Britain to leave the European Union.
As a June 23 referendum here on whether to remain in the bloc
approaches, polls indicate a tight race. That has led to an
intensifying battle between both sides for the backing of large
companies or prominent businesspeople.
For many executives, the vote is a crucial one. Several big
companies -- based in the U.K. and elsewhere -- have stepped up
their public support for a vote to remain in the EU. Executives
have warned a "leave" vote could cause widespread uncertainty over
everything from trade tariffs for British imports and exports to
hiring and investment plans in the U.K.
Leave campaigners, meanwhile, have won the endorsement of
several big British business figures and many smaller U.K.
companies. They have championed a Britain unencumbered by EU
regulations and other ties that they say hold British business
back.
Late Wednesday, senior executives at Airbus, GE and Unilever
complained to Vote Leave, the lead campaigning group advocating a
vote for an exit, that their corporate names and logos were being
used inappropriately for "propaganda purposes," implying those
companies were advocating a British exit from the bloc, or
"Brexit."
Vote Leave has been designated by the government as the official
group to represent the camp for leaving the EU. As such, it
receives some government funding to support its campaign.
On a page of the Vote Leave leaflet, and under the heading,
"Would jobs be at risk?," the logos of the three companies are
displayed, along with those of car makers Toyota Motor Corp.,
Nissan Motor Co. and General Motors Co.'s British unit
Vauxhall.
"EU regulations make it harder for British firms to hire staff.
Major employers like Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Unilever, GE and Airbus
have all said they'll stay in the U.K. whatever the result of the
referendum," the leaflet said. Few companies -- big or small --
have threatened to leave the U.K. altogether in the event of a vote
to leave.
Executives for some of the companies listed in the pamphlet
complained that it made it appear they were backing Brexit.
Unilever Chief Executive Paul Polman, along with Mark Elborne,
GE's chief for the U.K. and Ireland, and Paul Kahn, president of
Airbus in the U.K., wrote in a joint letter that the leaflets are
an "act of bad faith towards our companies." The executives said
the leaflet, sent to tens of millions of voters in the U.K., is
"highly misleading" and distorts their companies' official position
of being in favor of Britain remaining in the EU. The letter
continued: "We believe that -- for jobs and investment -- Britain
is better off in Europe."
A representative for Vote Leave didn't respond to a request for
comment.
A spokeswoman for Vauxhall said separately the leaflet countered
the company's position of favoring Britain remaining in the EU.
"For the U.K. not to be part of the EU would be undesirable for
our business and the sector as a whole," the spokeswoman said.
A spokesman for Nissan said the leaflet "grossly misrepresents"
the company's neutral position on the vote.
Toyota wasn't immediately available for comment.
Write to Simon Zekaria at simon.zekaria@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 16, 2016 15:42 ET (19:42 GMT)
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