Probe call into Brexit Mr Fixit and donation
Owen Smith, the former Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, has asked the Electoral Commission to open an investigation into Brexit campaigner Richard Cook.
The Scots businessman, who denies any wrongdoing, is the chairman of the secretive Constitutional Research Council (CRC) that gave £435,000 to the DUP to fund Leave campaigning in the final weeks before the referendum in 2016.
Last week, we revealed details of Mr Cook’s international career in waste management after an investigation by the opendemocracy website.
In a letter sent to the Northern Ireland Electoral Commission on Friday, Mr Smith urged the elections regulator to investigate Mr Cook, the CRC and the DUP donation. He wrote: “This individual, Richard Cook clearly has a blatant disregard for the rules of electoral law. Therefore it is in the public interest that all new information is fully investigated.”
Separately, SNP MP Brendan O’hara has also written to the Electoral Commission, calling for the watchdog to publish evidence of any inquiries into the source of the £435,000 donation.
“The least the commission can do is to provide reassurance to the public that no stone has been left unturned,” he said.