This Anti-EU Campaign Has Pro-Europe Messages Hidden In Its Website

Someone with access to Get Britain Out's website appears to be having some fun.

This is the website of Get Britain Out, a self-described "independent non-party, grassroots campaign" encouraging the UK to leave the EU.

Get Britain Out

It's fair to say its members doesn't really like Brussels, producing lists of myths and truths about the EU, and it also has a healthy Facebook following of 30,000 people.

A few months ago political journalist Isabel Oakeshott, co-writer of the Call Me Dave biography of the prime minister, praised the campaign's "slick website".

Unfortunately, someone with access to their website has hidden pro-EU messages in the code.

Get Britain Out

Look at the HTML for the website and – at the very top – someone's added a message encouraging people to "be open-minded" and consider "another side to the story" with links to a pro-EU website.

Although the link in the code is now broken, Pro Europa is a very different organisation, hosting events about the benefits of the UK remaining in the EU with titles such as "What has the EU done for you".

In short, it seems that some pro-EU person has been making mischief by hiding messages in the code on an anti-EU website.

You can check for yourself – right-click on their campaign page in a desktop web browser, select "view page source", and the HTML will load.

Get Britain Out

UPDATE: It appears the code has been removed from the live version of the website.

BuzzFeed News called Get Britain Out director Jayne Adye to ask whether she was aware that pro-EU messages had been hidden on her site.

"No, I didn't – I'm not really a techie," she said. "No, absolutely not. We've run the campaign for six years. And this has been our name for the last three years. I was not aware of that. The website was created with an advertising agency that was eurosceptic and they employed someone to actually create it for us. When we went away from the agency we carried on with it and bought the website. We dealt with the agency, which is quite well-respected.

"I hope you're not going to publicise this. I would prefer it if you don't make an issue about that. It's not something I'd want you to promote. Can I have your telephone number please? Oh, it's on my phone. I'm going to call my lawyers."