Billionaire investor George Soros has stepped up his pro-European Union campaign despite a wave of attacks against him in the pro-Brexit British press.

Soros has added an additional £100,000 donation to his previous £400,000 funding of campaign group Best for Britain, which is fighting for the UK to remain in the EU.

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Soros has said leaving the EU would be a tragic mistake that would weaken Britain’s influence on the world stage.

The news of his latest donation follows an op-ed in the Mail on Sunday newspaper yesterday, in which Soros defended his support for the EU and “why his love for Britain means he’ll fight on to oppose Brexit”.

Soros wrote:

I am, it seems, a ‘foreign plutocrat’. The considerable sum of money I’ve donated to the Remain side of the Brexit debate is ‘tainted’ and should be handed back immediately. I should ‘butt out’ of British politics. All of this grew out of a dinner party I hosted just a few days ago. I have never made any secret of my opposition to Brexit and, indeed, I made my case quite openly in the pages of The Mail on Sunday at the time of the referendum.

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Yet, most damaging of all, I find myself accused of ‘undermining democracy’ – and it is this rather serious charge I would like to address head on.

Meanwhile, the Guardian newspaper this morning reports Soros’ Open Society Foundation (OSF) will match a pro-EU crowdfunding campaign that has raised a little over £71,000 since Soros’ support was revealed last week.

Soros is a former refugee from communist Hungary who made $1bn (£720m) as a currency speculator betting against sterling on Black Wednesday in 1992 — a victory that led to him being branded “the man who broke the Bank of England”.

Here’s how the biggest remain backers stack up against those who backed leave

Rival Remain and Leave campaigners in the EU referendum raised £15.6m in the ten weeks to 21 April, according to figures released by the Electoral Commission in May last year.

The official campaign for Britain to stay in the EU – Britain Stronger in Europe – raised £6.9m – more than twice as much as Vote Leave’s £2.8m.

However, the total raised by all registered leave campaigners was £8.2m — higher than the remain campaigners’ £7.5m.

Remain backers include:

  • Hedge fund manager David Harding — £750,000
  • Businessman and Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman — £500,000
  • The Tower Limited Partnership — £500,000
  • Michelle Ovens Ltd — £95,000
  • Scientists for EU – £60,000

Leave backers include:

  • Stock broker Peter Hargreaves — £3.2m
  • Businessman Patrick Barbour — £500,000
  • Former Conservative Party treasurer and CEO of CMC Markets Peter Cruddas — £350,000
  • Construction mogul Terence Adams — £300,000