Big Ben Brexit – what is the Bong for Brexit appeal?
AN appeal to ensure Big Ben chimes on Brexit night has now reached £120,000.
PM Boris Johnson initially backed the bid to get the bell tower, which has been silent since 2017, to bong on January 31 - but he's since backtracked. Here's what we know about the campaign...
What is the Bong for Brexit appeal?
Brexiteers have called for Big Ben's renovations to be paused so the bell can ring to signal Britain's divorce from the EU.
So far, the campaign is attracting muted support on crowdfunding websites, with no official campaign.
On crowdfunding website GoFundMe, a series of pages were attempting to raise cash for the bongs, but the majority had received no donations at all.
The StandUp4Brexit page had been pledged just over £7,000 from more than 460 donors, including the £1,000 from Mr Francois, while Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom promised £10.
There were also small donations from "Dominic Grieve", "Jeremy Corbyn" and "John Bercow" but these were all likely to be fake names.
How much money has the appeal raised?
So far, the appeal has raised £120,000.
But parliamentary officials warned they couldn’t take the cash even if the full £500,000 was raised.
What has Boris said about the appeal?
On January 14, PM Boris Johnson backed the crowdfunding bid, urging the public to “bung a bob for a Big Ben bong”.
But he backtracked on January 16 as his spokesman highlighted “potential difficulties in accepting money from public donations”.
Former defence minister Mark Francois stormed: “As the Prime Minister effectively initiated this campaign live on TV two days ago, and as we are clearly going to hit the target, he would be mad to back away from it.”
And Nigel Farage said of the PM: “Does he believe in Brexit or is he embarrassed by it?”
When will Brexit happen?
The UK is set to quit the EU on January 31, 2020.
This comes after Brexit day was delayed three times.
February 1 will start the countdown on an 11-month transition period with talks on a new trade deal.