City takeover watchdog boss apologises for emailing business leaders to sign anti-Brexit petition

A City watchdog boss has apologised for wading into the Brexit debate after urging a number of high-profile business contacts to sign a controversial petition to revoke Article 50.

Anthony Pullinger, who is listed as a deputy director general of the City's takeover panel, which oversees mergers and acquisitions, last week emailed a long list of contacts from his professional email, in which he urged the recipients to join him on last Saturday's People's Vote march and to sign a controversial petition to revoke Article 50, which has been signed by nearly 6m people.

The email, seen by City PM, reads: "If you have finally had enough, as I have, it's time to demand a people's vote on Brexit and to join me on a march at 12 noon tomorrow in Park Lane.

"If you cannot make it then please consider signing a petition calling for the government to revoke Article 50 and to end this Brexit shambles."

He adds: "Next week may be too late. The time for action is now."

Today Pullinger apologised, telling City A.M: “I think that every citizen has a right to express views on this subject. However, these were clearly my personal opinions and, with hindsight, I made an error in sending an email to friends from my work address and not blind copying them, for which I apologise.”

The takeover panel's main role is to ensure that the City code is applied to all potential takeover and merger bids and to ensure that all shareholders are treated equally.

As a regulator it is expected to remain politically neutral.

One email recipient said they were "quite alarmed" to receive the message, which did not blind copy in the contacts, meaning details were visible to all who received it.

"For someone in that position to be sending an email to sign the petition is just wrong," they said. "I do have sympathy with where we're at, but if a Brexiter had done something like that we'd all be up in arms. It is out of order."

Lucy Harris, director of Leavers of Britain, said: "Regulators have a duty to be neutral. It is alarming to see such political bias so blatantly flaunted while exploiting the status of influential public institutions to emit it. I am worried this type of behaviour will lead to more public scepticism in institutions' honesty which is absolutely essential going forward after Brexit."