{{Short description|UK political organisation}} {{EngvarB|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Update|date=June 2016}} {{Brexit sidebar}} '''Better Off Out''' (BOO) was a non-party campaign that called for the [[United Kingdom]] (UK)'s withdrawal from the [[European Union|European Union (EU)]]. It was run by [[The Freedom Association]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tfa.net/better_off_out|title=Better Off Out Campaign|website=The Freedom Association|access-date=29 March 2019}}</ref> a [[List of pressure groups in the United Kingdom|pressure group]] that describes itself as non-partisan, [[Centre-right politics|centre-right]] and [[Libertarianism|libertarian]], with links to the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], The Brexit Party (now [[Reform UK]]) and the [[UK Independence Party]] (UKIP). The campaign was formed in 2006<ref name=bbc>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6511701.stm|work=BBC News|title=Tebbit supports EU exit campaign|date=30 March 2007|access-date=10 March 2016}}</ref> and was based in [[Cheltenham]], England.

==Supporters== The patrons of the campaign included [[Norman Tebbit]],<ref name=bbc/> the former chairman of the Conservative Party as well as author [[Frederick Forsyth]]<ref name=Gill>[[#Gill|Gill 2006]]</ref> and Professor [[Tim Congdon]], an economist and former [[UK Independence Party|UKIP]] [[Prospective parliamentary candidate|PPC]].

[[Bernard Weatherill]], the former [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]], was also a patron of the campaign until his death.<ref name=Gill/>

===Members of Parliament=== Prior to the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum]], Better Off Out was supported by a number of Conservative [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] including [[Peter Bone]],<ref name=mps/> [[Christopher Chope]],<ref name=Gill/> [[David TC Davies]],<ref name=Gill/> [[Philip Davies]],<ref name=mps/> [[Gordon Henderson (politician)|Gordon Henderson]],<ref name=mps/> [[Philip Hollobone]],<ref name=mps/> [[David Nuttall]],<ref name=mps/> [[Heather Wheeler]],<ref name=mps/> [[Andrew Percy]], [[Laurence Robertson]] and [[Richard Shepherd]].<ref name=Gill/> A number of Conservative former members of parliament supported Better Off Out, including [[Ann Winterton|Lady Ann Winterton]], [[Nicholas Winterton|Sir Nicholas Winterton]], [[John Biffen]], [[Eric Forth]], [[Richard Body]], [[Bob Spink]], and [[Jonathan Aitken]].

The former [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] MP for [[Great Grimsby (UK Parliament constituency)|Great Grimsby]], [[Austin Mitchell]] was also a supporter.<ref name=mps/> There were a number of [[Democratic Unionist Party]] MPs and [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland)|Members of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly]], including their leader [[Peter Robinson (Northern Ireland politician)|Peter Robinson]] and former leader [[Ian Paisley]]. Others included [[Gregory Campbell (politician)|Gregory Campbell]], [[Nigel Dodds]], [[Jeffrey Donaldson]],<ref name=mps/> Dr. [[William McCrea, Baron McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown|William McCrea]], [[Ian Paisley Jr]], [[Jim Shannon]], [[David Simpson (Northern Ireland politician)|David Simpson]] and [[Sammy Wilson (politician)|Sammy Wilson]] as well as prominent members of the smaller [[Traditional Unionist Voice]], including [[William Ross (Unionist politician)|William Ross]] and former MEP [[Jim Allister]].

Former UKIP MP [[Douglas Carswell]]<ref name=mps>{{cite web|url=http://www.betteroffout.net/|title=Better Off Out|website=Better Off Out|access-date=21 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324181958/http://www.betteroffout.net/|archive-date=24 March 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> and former MP [[Mark Reckless]] were signatories.

===Members of the European Parliament===

The Conservative MEPs at the time of the referendum [[David Campbell Bannerman]], [[Roger Helmer]] (who subsequently left the Conservative party and joined UKIP) and [[Daniel Hannan]] also signed.<ref name=mps/>

===Academics and artists=== Other non-political supporters included the academics [[Ruth Lea, Baroness Lea of Lymm|Ruth Lea]],<ref name=Gill/> [[Patrick Minford]]<ref name=Gill/> and [[Alan Walters]].

===Management Committee=== * Committee chairman: John Kershaw * Hon. Secretary: Tony Hilder * Hon. Treasurer: Michael McGough, Sir Mark Worthington (ex official), [[Christopher Gill]], Euan Stewart, Mark Wallace * Chief Executive: Simon Richards * Director: Rory Broomfield * Head of Campaigns: Andrew Allison * Campaigns Manager: [[Rupert Matthews]]

==Conservative Party blacklisting== In March 2007 the [[Conservative Campaign Headquarters|Conservative Central Office]] warned its party membership that BOO was contrary to [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] policy.<ref name=bbc/>

==See also== *[[Euroscepticism]] *[[Brexit]] *[[Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== {{Refbegin}} *{{anchor|Gill}}Gill, Christopher. 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060814052456/http://www.tfa.net/pdfs/40605.pdf Letter from the Chairman] (PDF), July/August 2006, Freedom TODAY, published by the Freedom Association. Retrieved 2008-07-08 {{Refend}}

==External links== * [https://www.tfa.net/better_off_out Better off Out Campaign] at the Freedom Association website

[[Category:2006 establishments in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:2006 in British politics]] [[Category:Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Organisations based in Cheltenham]] [[Category:Organizations established in 2006]] [[Category:2006 establishments in England]] [[Category:2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum]] [[Category:Brexit-related advocacy groups in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:2006 quotations]] [[Category:British political phrases (2000–present)]]