Gary Baldi
Well-known member
- Joined
- 6 Dec 2017
- Messages
- 7,061
I would never suggest you're thick, but that whole sentence including use of the comparative 'instead' really can't be misinterpreted! The slogan suggested to the gullible that membership of the EU was depriving the NHS of £350 million were week, funds which would be available to the NHS if we no longer paid it to the EU.
The idea is crap, of course. When we leave the EU those funds will go towards the austerity pledge of reducing the UK's national deficit, not to the NHS.
With regards the £350m, it is massively different as it was their main strapline which was repeated over and over and was knowingly and deliberately inaccurate, at the least it was a serious obfuscation of the truth. Boris was still quoting the £350m figure in the TV debates as did the other Leave Campaign members when they were on TV.
The £350m is a lie by omission as it ignores a considerable chunk of the equation very deliberately. It is like a company saying to potential investors we have an income of £15m while hiding that their costs are £30m.
It was repeated so many times (on TV, Social media, radio, the bus, leaflets etc) and throughout the campaign. To paraphrase a saying that repeat a lie enough times and it becomes the perceived truth. Plenty of people believed it was true, that you didn't fair enough but plenty did.
I'll leave this here: https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/...exit-bus-was-wrong-the-real-figure-is-higher/