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FUNNY MONEY

Comedian Eddie Izzard spent £36,000 of his OWN cash on the failed EU Remain campaign, including £250 on drinks at Leave backed Wetherspoons

The Labour activist parted with thousands of pounds to try to keep Britain in the EU

COMEDIAN Eddie Izzard spent £36,000 of his own money on the railed EU Remain campaign.

According to figures released today from the Electoral Commission, the Labour activist parted with thousands of pounds to keep Britain in the EU.

 Eddie Izzard at this year's party conference. He splashed the cash on the EU Remain campaign
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Eddie Izzard at this year's party conference. He splashed the cash on the EU Remain campaignCredit: Reuters

The £36,229.22 of campaign spending noted that the comedian spent £22,000 on transport and food, £12,699 on referendum "material" and £715 on media.

Mr Izzard, who has been a Labour party member since the 1990s, recorded 219 separate spending receipts during the campaign period.

This included hundreds of pounds on meals out on the campaign trail at Nandos, Zizzis, Bella Italia and Pret a Manger.

 Marching with Pro-Europe supporters after the Brexit vote
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Marching with Pro-Europe supporters after the Brexit voteCredit: PA:Press Association

And the Remoaner splashed cash on Addison Lee taxis, London black cabs, EasyJet planes and trains to tour university campuses across the country to promote the benefits of the European Union.

Meanwhile, Unite the Union spent over £140,000, while the National Farmers Union parted with £73,565 on the failed campaign.

This compared with JD Wetherspoons, whose outspoken founder, Tim Martin, spent £94,586 on backing the Leave campaign.

His pubs launched an ad campaign attacking the EU commission on their beer mats.

But even Eddie couldn't resist a cheeky bevvie in the popular pub chain, spending more than £258 in five separate trips to Wetherspoons branches.

Mr Izzard was on the losing side yet again this time as the UK beat the odds to rip off the shackles off the EU.

The comedian, who seems to spread his bad luck supporting doomed campaigns, missed out on a place on Labour's NEC earlier this year, coming eighth to Corbynista candidates and crushing his dreams of political office.

He supported Ed Miliband at the 2015 General Election, the Yes to AV referendum on adopting the alternative vote, was in favour of joining the failed Euro, electing Ken Livingstone as Mayor in 2012, and recently backed Andy Burnham for Labour leader.

 Campaigning with Ed Miliband and Ken Livingstone for the 2012 mayoral election
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Campaigning with Ed Miliband and Ken Livingstone for the 2012 mayoral electionCredit: PA:Press Association
 Eddie Izzard appearing with the then-Labour leader Ed Miliband at Labour party conference
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Eddie Izzard appearing with the then-Labour leader Ed Miliband at Labour party conferenceCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
 The political activist holds a balloon at a rally as part of a UK tour in 2011 to promote the Yes to the Alternative Vote campaign
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The political activist holds a balloon at a rally as part of a UK tour in 2011 to promote the Yes to the Alternative Vote campaignCredit: PA:Press Association

In total, Remain supporters spent £2.9bn million, compared to the £1.9bn spent by the Leave camp.

The largest single donation was the £676,016 from Darren Grimes, who submitted his invoices early.

The total expenditure of campaigners who spent over £250,000 will be released next year.

 

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