UK’s Brexit campaign group fined £ 61K for overspending

Case reported to Scotland Yard as spending limits broken

The Electoral Commission has followed the evidence and conducted a thorough investigation into spending and campaigning carried out by ‘ Vote Leave’ and ‘ BeLeave’

— Bob Posner,

Director of political finance and regulation

London, July 17: The official group that campaigned for Brexit has been fined £ 61,000 for breaking spending limits in the 2016 EU membership referendum and the case has been reported to Scotland Yard, the UK’s Electoral Commission said on Tuesday.

Vote Leave, which proved victorious at the end of its campaign with 51.9 per cent voting for Brexit as against 48.1 per cent to Remain, was found guilty of funnelling cash with the help of a smaller proBrexit group called ‘ BeLeave’ to get around campaign finance rules.

Darren Grimes, the founder of ‘ BeLeave’ has been fined £ 20,000 and reported to the Metropolitan Police, along with ‘ Vote Leave’ official David Halsall.

The UK, on June 23, 2016, had voted in favour of leaving the 28- member European Union. It is scheduled to quit the bloc on March 29, 2019.

“The Electoral Commission has followed the evidence and conducted a thorough investigation into spending and campaigning carried out by ‘ Vote Leave’ and ‘ BeLeave’,” said Bob Posner, the commission’s director of political finance and regulation.

“We found substantial evidence that the two groups worked to a common plan, did not declare their joint working and did not adhere to the legal spending limits,” he said.

However, the findings of the EC do not provide a legal basis to overturn the referendum results.

‘ Vote Leave’ and the official Remain campaign group, ‘ Britain Stronger in Europe’, were allowed to spend £ 7 million each on campaigning in the run up to the referendum on June 23, 2016. ‘ Vote Leave’ exceeded its legal spending limit by almost £ 500,000 the election watchdog found.