# Better Off Out

Part of a series of articles on :
Brexit :
Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union
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Background
European Communities Act
1975 EC membership referendum
UK rebate
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No. No. No.
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Timeline Bloomberg speech Jan 2013 Referendum Bill blockedJan 2014 European Parliament election May 2014 2015 general election May 2015 Renegotiation begins Jun 2015 Referendum Act passed Dec 2015 Renegotiation concluded Feb 2016 Referendum held Jun 2016 David Cameron resigns as PM Jul 2016 Theresa May becomes PM Jul 2016 Article 50 judgement Jan 2017 Brexit plan presentedFeb 2017 Notification Act passed Mar 2017 Article 50 invoked Mar 2017 Repeal Bill plan presentedMar 2017 2017 general election Jun 2017 Brexit negotiations begin Jun 2017 Withdrawal Act passedJun 2018 Chequers plan presented Jul 2018 Withdrawal agreement plan presented July 2018 Withdrawal agreement released Nov 2018 Scottish Continuity Bill blockedDec 2018 Meaningful votes Jan–Mar 2019 Brexit delayed until 12 April Mar 2019 Cooper–Letwin Act passed Apr 2019 Brexit delayed until 31 October Apr 2019 European Parliament election May 2019 Theresa May resigns as PM Jul 2019 Boris Johnson becomes PM Jul 2019 Prorogation and annulment Aug–Sep 2019 Benn Act passed Sep 2019 Withdrawal agreement revised Oct 2019 Brexit delayed until 31 January Oct 2019 2019 general election Dec 2019 Agreement Act passed Jan 2020 UK leaves the European Union Jan 2020 Implementation period begins Jan 2020 UK–EU trade deal agreed Dec 2020 Future Relationship Act passed Dec 2020 Scottish Continuity Act passed Dec 2020 Implementation period ends Dec 2020 New EU–UK relationship begins Jan 2021 UK–EU trade deal ratified Apr 2021 Windsor Framework released Feb 2023 Windsor framework adopted Mar 2023 :
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vte :
Better Off Out (BOO) was a non-party campaign that called for the United Kingdom (UK)'s withdrawal from the European Union (EU). It was run by The Freedom Association, a pressure group that describes itself as non-partisan, centre-right and libertarian, with links to the Conservative Party, The Brexit Party (now Reform UK) and the UK Independence Party (UKIP). The campaign was formed in 2006 and was based in Cheltenham, England.

## Supporters

The patrons of the campaign included Lord Tebbit, the former chairman of the Conservative Party as well as author Frederick Forsyth CBE and Professor Tim Congdon CBE, an economist and former UKIP PPC.
Lord Weatherill, the former Speaker of the House of Commons, was also a patron of the campaign until his death.

### Members of Parliament

Prior to the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, Better Off Out was supported by a number of Conservative Members of Parliament including Peter Bone, Christopher Chope, David T C Davies, Philip Davies, Gordon Henderson, Philip Hollobone, David Nuttall, Heather Wheeler, Andrew Percy, Laurence Robertson and Richard Shepherd. A number of Conservative former members of parliament supported Better Off Out, including Lady Ann Winterton, Sir Nicholas Winterton, John Biffen, Eric Forth, Sir Richard Body, Dr Bob Spink, and Jonathan Aitken.
The former Labour MP for Great Grimsby, Austin Mitchell was also a supporter. There were a number of Democratic Unionist Party MPs and Members of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly, including their leader Peter Robinson and former leader Ian Paisley. Others included Gregory Campbell, Nigel Dodds, Jeffrey Donaldson, Dr. William McCrea, Ian Paisley, Jr., Jim Shannon, David Simpson and Sammy Wilson as well as prominent members of the smaller Traditional Unionist Voice, including William Ross and former MEP Jim Allister.
Former UKIP MP Douglas Carswell 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.

### Academics and artists

Other non-political supporters included the academics Ruth Lea, Patrick Minford and Alan Walters.

### Management Committee

* Committee chairman: John Kershaw
* Hon. Secretary: Tony Hilder
* Hon. Treasurer: Michael McGough FCA Sir Mark Worthington OBE (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 Central Office warned its party membership that BOO was contrary to Conservative Party policy.