EU Leaflet Row: Petition Passes 100K Signatures

A petition calling for David Cameron to scrap a pro-EU leaflet that will cost taxpayers more than £9m has gained more than 100,000 signatures.

It means ministers could have to appear in Parliament to defend spending public money on the pro-EU document, which will be posted to 27 million households across the country from next week.

Amid a row between the in and out campaigns, the Prime Minister has said he makes "no apology" for the mail-out.

Campaigners in favour of a British exit from the EU have criticised the Government's use of taxpayers' cash to fund the glossy 16-page document, and have urged voters to send theirs back to Downing Street.

:: What's In The EU Leaflet And Is It True?

Now that the petition has reached 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

Downing Street said the leaflet was a response to polling which showed 85% of the public wanted more information from the Government to help them make an informed choice in vote on 23 June.

Speaking to an audience of students in Exeter on Thursday, Mr Cameron brandished the leaflet and said: "The UK Government, with our experience, our understanding, our knowledge, we think we should stay in this organisation.

So I make no apology for the fact that we are sending to every household in the country this leaflet, which sets out what the Government's view is and why we come to that view - we're not neutral in this."

The leaflet will cost £458,500 to create, with £5.9m being spent printing and delivering it across the UK in two waves.

Another £2.9m will go on producing the website and promoting it via social media and other online platforms - a total cost of around 34p per household.

The leaflet, titled "Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK", will start to arrive through letterboxes in England next week - before "purdah" restrictions come into force ahead of May's local elections - and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the week after the 5 May elections.

Vote Leave campaigners have complained the cost of the promotional push is greater than the £7m each the formal Leave and Remain camps will be allowed to spend by law in total during the campaign's last 10 weeks.