Leave campaign could sue over spending fine
THE official Brexit campaign last night threatened to take the elections watchdog to court for pursuing a ‘deeply political agenda’.
The Electoral Commission is set to fine Vote Leave over claims it broke spending rules ahead of the 2016 referendum. But campaign chiefs yesterday accused the Commission of a ‘huge breach of natural justice’, alleging the watchdog had not listened to their version of events.
The Commission already faces accusations of bias from Brexiteers, who claim it is focusing on allegations of wrongdoing by the Leave side, not by Remainers.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to spend £9.3million of taxpayers’ money on a leaflet sent to all households setting out the case for Remain has been deemed to be within referendum rules.
But the Commission is set to take action against Vote Leave after reopening its investigation into the campaign last November despite previously saying it was happy with its spending. Four of the watchdog’s ten commissioners, including the chairman, have made public statements criticising the pro-Brexit campaign or backing calls for the referendum result to be overturned.
Matthew Elliott, former chief executive of Vote Leave, yesterday said the Commission had concluded the campaign exceeded spending limits by making a donation to another Brexit-backing group. He told Sky News: ‘Their initial conclusion is that we have overspent, that a donation we made to another group during the course of the campaign was incorrect, we shouldn’t have made that donation.’
The Commission said Vote Leave had taken an ‘unusual step’ of going public with the findings of its draft report.
The allegations centre on how Vote Leave gave £625,000 to 22year-old fashion student Darren Grimes in the final days of the referendum campaign as it came within £200,000 of the £7million spending limit. He spent the money on the social media- driven campaign BeLeave – listed as an official Vote Leave outreach group.
Campaigns were legally allowed to donate excess funds to other groups – but only if there were no instructions on how the cash should be spent. Mr Elliott said Vote Leave campaign chiefs had not been interviewed by the Commission. He insisted: ‘I think it is a huge breach of natural justice that they haven’t wanted to listen to our opinions and our story.’
Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who was the campaign’s co-chairman, said he had not seen the report but indicated the Commission’s findings could be challenged in the courts. ‘The report itself, I think, is going to be challenged legally,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
‘If it is going to go through the courts, it would be inappropriate for me – not having read the report – to offer a commentary on it.’ A Commission spokesman said it had reached initial findings and provided Vote Leave with a 28-day period to make further representations which ended on Tuesday.
He added: ‘The unusual step taken by Vote Leave in sharing its views on the Electoral Commission’s initial findings does not affect the process set out in law.’ He insisted the final report would provide a ‘full and balanced account’.
The SNP’s Ian Blackford later asked Theresa May at Prime Minister’s Questions: ‘Does the Prime Minister agree that we need absolute transparency in elections and that people must be held accountable?’
Mrs May said she would not comment on a ‘leaked report’