EXTRA CASH MAY HAVE EDGED IT

THE importance of the Electoral Commission probe can’t be underestimated: Vote Leave broke the law.

In a referendum where there was a percentage gap of just four points between Remain and Leave, the official Leave campaign overspent by 10 per cent.

The lies during the campaign were frustrating. Remember Boris’s red bus with the claim that we could spend £350million extra a week on the NHS? It was a lie.

Or what about Tory MEP Daniel Hannan’s claim that “absolutely nobody is talking about threatening our place in the single market”. As we hurtle towards a cliff-edge Brexit out of the single market, demonstrably a lie.

But there was little we could do about it during the campaign, just like we couldn’t stop Alex Salmond promoting the lies in his independence White Paper.

But there was a difference between indyref and EUref: in the independence referendum, neither side cheated. The resounding No vote was fair. The same can no longer be said for the Leave vote in 2016.

Vote Leave circumvented strict spending limits by funnelling cash to another group. Liars; scoundrels; and now cheats as well.

While the Electoral Commission focus on the officials involved, let’s not forget who publicly fronted this despicable campaign: it was senior Tories Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.

Both of these Tories must come clean about what they knew and apologise.

With Parliament in chaos, there is only one solution – the decision on leaving the EU must be put back in the hands of the people.