UK Parliament to Consider Petition Against Pro-EU Leaflets

LONDON (Sputnik) — The UK government has spent some 9 million pounds ($13 million) from the budget on leaflets promoting a stay-in vote in the upcoming referendum on Britain's EU membership.

The petition opposing the government spending taxpayers’ money on the 16-page leaflets to be sent to 27 million homes across the United Kingdom was launched in December and received a governmental response after it gained 14,000 signatures. According to the petition, "no taxpayers’ money should be spent on campaign literature to keep Britain inside the EU."

The government responded to the petition, initiated by the Get Britain Out campaign, which hopes to end Britain's membership of the 28-nation bloc, in January. According to the governmental statement, the leaflets are necessary so that the public is clear on what reforms have been agreed between London and Brussels and what EU membership means for the country.

At 100,000 signatures, a petition has to be considered in the UK parliament.

British nationals vote in the Brexit referendum on June 23, after Prime Minister David Cameron negotiated a deal with 27 other EU leaders to grant the United Kingdom a special status within the bloc.