Vote Leave chair ducks apology call
A key Vote Leave figure has sidestepped calls to apologise for the campaign breaking the law over its spending during the EU referendum.
Former Labour MP Gisela Stuart, who co-chaired Vote Leave, said the official Brexit campaign’slegaladviceat“every stage” ruled their activities compliant but regulators had found otherwise at a later date.
The Electoral Commission confirmed last week that Vote Leave, supported by politicians including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, had withdrawn an appeal against fines for breaches of electoral law
committed during the 2016 EU referendum campaign.
The watchdog’s investigation centred on a donation of almost £680,000 made by Vote Leave to Beleave, a youth Brexit group.
Asked why Vote Leave dropped its appeal, Ms Stuart told the BBC One Andrew Marr Show: “I think what it shows is we have been outspent at every stage of this process and going to appeals costs money too.”
On whether she would apologise for the organisation breaking the law, Ms Stuart replied: “It was in relation of one particular donation where the Electoral Commission interpreted the rules as that being acting in concert, which we had got legal advice which said it wasn’t.”
Ms Stuart later said: “We destroyed all our data.”
Pressed if she would apologise Ms Stuart replied: “At every stage we were ruled compliant according to legal advice we were given at that time.”