Ukip ‘misspent EU funds to boost Leave campaign’
A UKIP group has been accused of using almost half a million euros’ worth of EU funding to help the party campaign for last year’s general election and the Brexit vote.
Despite for years calling for the demise of the EU and criticising its largesse, it has been claimed that Nigel Farage’s party broke Brussels rules after it spent €450,000 (£386,961) of tax- payers’ money on polling in Britain.
According to a leaked report from the European Parliament, the money went through the Alliance for Direct Democracy (ADDE), of which Ukip is a member. The group of European political parties has said it will challenge the audit in the European Court of Justice.
If the European Parliament Bureau upholds its findings in a meeting on Monday, Ukip will be forced to pay back almost £150,000. The report, which was obtained by Sky News, con- cluded: “The constituencies selected for many of the polls underline that polling were [sic] conducted in the interest of Ukip.
“Most of the constituencies can be identified as being essential for reaching a significant representation in the House of Commons from the 2015 general election or for a positive result for the Leave campaign.”
The cash was used for polling in the seat contested by Mr Farage, Thanet South, as well as seats in Thurrock and Rochester and Strood.
The report also found that Ukip had used EU money to run its Brexit campaign in the UK. It said: “Several polling [sic] can be considered as financing of a referendum campaign which violates 8(4) ... prohibiting the financing of referenda campaigns.”
A Ukip source told Sky News the party would investigate the claims, but was “not surprised that it has been leaked to the press before the party has had a chance to see it”.
A spokesman for the ADDE said: “The parliament administration has for months taken an aggressive and hostile attitude over the audit, amounting to nothing short of deliberate harassment. This is a blatant deviation to its requested neutrality.
“We will be taking this matter to the European Court of Justice.”