Tycoon’s legal action threat over Brexit campaign probe
LEAVE.EU CHAIRMAN Arron Banks has threatened to take legal action against the elections watchdog unless it reveals the sources behind a probe into the funding of his Brexit campaign.
The insurance tycoon said he would seek a judicial review of the decision to launch the investigation unless the Electoral Commission gave details of its sources within 21 days.
He issued the threat after the Electoral Commission said an investigation into Leave.EU was being delayed because the Brexit campaign group has failed to hand over information it has requested. The commission is looking into the alleged undeclared provision of services by data firm Cambridge Analytica.
The watchdog is also separately looking into whether Mr Banks was the “true source” of three loans worth £6m on non-commercial terms to Leave.EU, and whether Better For The Country Limited (BFTCL) – a company that lists him as a director – was acting as an “agent” when it donated £2.3m to five registered campaigners.
Mr Banks said the investiga- tion into the links to Cambridge Analytica and advocacy firm Goddard Gunster had not been resolved after “200-plus days”.
Last week the commission said in a letter: “Investigations can take further time where the Commission needs to go back to organisations to ensure that full disclosure of requested material has been provided.
“In relation to our first investigation in respect of Leave.EU, the Commission will shortly set out to Leave.EU areas where it appears material has not been provided, notably relating to documents comprising the services provided by Goddard Gunster in late 2015/early 2016.”
But in his response Mr Banks said: “At the outset of the investigation we sent you three lever arch folders full of the relevant information and the last we heard from you was in July. There have been no requests for further information or chasers.”
On the second investigation into whether “dark Russian money” or overseas donations had been made to Leave.EU he said: “Unless you set out in the next 21 days the source of these allegations and why you find them credible, we intend to seek a judicial review of the decision to investigate our campaign and the political reasons why.”
The Electoral Commission said it had seen the letter “and will be responding in due course”.
We sent you three lever arch folders full of the relevant information. Arron Banks’s response to the letter from the Electoral Commission.