![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_EU-referendum.jpg\")
The controversial bus said: ‘We send the EU \u00a3350 million a week, let’s fund our\u00a0NHS\u00a0instead'(Image: PA Archive\/PA Images)<\/p>\nFormer Tory cabinet minister Michael Gove has defended the controversial Brexit bus slogan claiming \u00a3350million was going to the EU weekly and should instead be going to the NHSThe controversial bus said: ‘We send the EU \u00a3350 million a week, let’s fund our\u00a0NHS\u00a0instead'(Image: PA Archive\/PA Images)<\/p>\n
Michael Gove has defended the controversial Brexit bus slogan claiming \u00a3350million was going to the EU weekly and should instead be going to the NHS<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr Gove – a key figure in the Leave campaign – said the figure was \u201cliterally the truth\u201d but claimed the Brexit<\/a> debate is too divisive to persuade people. He admitted the bus – which said “We send the EU \u00a3350million a week, let’s fund our NHS instead” – was contentious and still “enrages” people today.<\/p>\n But the former senior Cabinet minister batted away analysis from fact checker charity Full Fact, who has long cast doubt over the claims.<\/p>\n Full Fact has said the UK never paid the EU \u00a3350million a week <\/a>and never owed such money to the bloc, meaning there was no option to take it back post Brexit. The organisation has also warned that the claim fails to take into account the major impact on the economy from changes to trade as a result of the UK ditching the EU.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Inside 2025 in UK politics – from Keir Starmer’s Trump bromance to Budget bombshells<\/a> Analysis last month found Brexit has imposed \u201ca large and persistent cost on the UK economy\u201d. Think tank UK in a Changing Europe estimated that UK GDP per capita was 6\u20138% lower than it would have been without Brexit. Investment was 12\u201318% lower, employment 3\u20134% lower and productivity 3\u20134% lower.<\/p>\n But speaking on Sky News\u2019 Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Mr Gove said he didn\u2019t regret the \u00a3350m bus claim. \u201cI know that the bus enrages people on the Remain side to this day and during the general election<\/a> campaign and indeed at the Labour<\/a> Party conference just a couple of months ago, there were references to it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it’s probably wearying for most people for me to go over the arguments again, but it is actually an underestimate of the amount of money that the European Union<\/a> took from the UK taxpayer and then spent on the UK taxpayers’ behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Gove added: \u201cThe argument that there were dreadful lies that seduced people out of their common sense, I think, is wrong\u2026 The \u00a3350million figure was debated and argued over at length. There was plenty of time for it to be taken apart.\u201d<\/p>\n Be the first with news from Mirror Politics<\/p>\n BLUESKY: <\/strong>Follow our Mirror Politics account on Bluesky here<\/a>. And follow our Mirror Politics team here – Lizzy Buchan<\/a>, Mikey Smith<\/a>, Ashley Cowburn<\/a>, Alexander Brown<\/a>, Sophie Huskisson<\/a> and Dave Burke<\/a>.<\/p>\n POLITICS WHATSAPP: <\/strong>Be first to get the biggest bombshells and breaking news by joining our Politics WhatsApp group here.<\/a> We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you want to leave our community, you can check out any time you like. If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice<\/a>.<\/p>\n NEWSLETTER: <\/strong>Or sign up here to the Mirror’s Politics newsletter<\/a> for all the best exclusives and opinions straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_JS227498318.jpg\")
Michael Gove defended the \u00a3350m bus campaign<\/p>\n