Dozens of leading academics back Brexit in new campaign to end smears against ‘stupid’ Leavers
Briefings for Brexit will put forward the academic case for quitting the EU
A GROUP of Britain's brainiest academics have clubbed together to show support for Brexit - and prove that Leave voters aren't stupider than EU supporters.
A top historian and leading economist from Cambridge University are pioneering the effort to bring pro-Brexit boffins together.
But some experts say they're too scared to get involved - because their colleagues will shun them if they admit they're anti-EU.
Briefings for Brexit, a website setting out the academic arguments for leaving the EU, went live today.
It is led by Robert Tombs, a globally respected expert on French history, and economist Graham Gudgin, who both work at Cambridge.
Professor Tombs told the Sunday Times he wanted to battle against "the whole tide of propaganda about how awful everything was, how awful everything was going to be".
Dr Gudgin said he was motivated by the dodgy forecasts pumped out by the Treasury which claimed Brexit would tank the economy.
The pair managed to round up dozens more top academics within weeks to back their project and contribute to the website.
Their allies include Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, lawyers including fertility expert Baroness Deech, leading businesswoman Dame Helena Morrissey, and eminent historians including Noel Malcolm and David Abulafia.
But the group could be even bigger - if dons didn't feel bullied by their pro-EU colleagues.
Dr Gudgin said: "One of our contributors said he was told by a younger pro-Brexit colleague that his professor had told him that people who voted Brexit were the sort of people who sent his relatives to concentration camps."
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Professor Tombs added: "I thought one thing we academics were paid to do was help explain things to people, but universities have become so simple-minded about this."
Some of those involved voted Remain in the 2016 referendum, but have since become converted to Brexit.
The creation of the group follows Artists for Brexit, another campaign flying the flag for the anti-EU cause in an industry dominated by Remainers.