Remember the Brexit Bus? During the fraught campaigning surrounding the UK’s referendum on its EU-membership, the Vote Leave campaign hired a bus, and plastered on it the words “We send the EU £350 million a week. Let’s fund our NHS instead.”
They didn’t realize it at the time, but this would come to symbolize the fact-free nature of the Leave campaign.
For starters, there was no £350 million; when you subtract the UK’s rebate, the real figure is much lower. And courtesy of higher costs following the post-Brexit drop in the pound, and the troubling matter of the “divorce bill,” it seems unlikely any more money is heading to the UK’s beleaguered health service.
And now, the Brexit Bus has found a new lease of life with UK challenger bank Monese behind the wheel. The company hired it to celebrate its expansion to mainland Europe, and is offering €350 million in fee-free money transfers between its UK and Eurozone accounts.
The side of the bus now reads “Send €350 million with zero fees. UK and EU banking for everyone.” On the rear and passenger-door side of the vehicle, it also says “#FreeMovement,” although this presumably refers to money, not people.