[Politics] Brexit

nicko31 said:

Brexit cost to the economy est £88B

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A “world first” private prosecution accusing Boris Johnson of misconduct in public office before the Brexit referendum opens in court today.

Marcus Ball, 29, has crowdfunded more than £200,000 from almost 6,000 supporters to start a private prosecution of the Tory MP and former foreign secretary.

He has accused Mr Johnson of misconduct in public office and abusing public trust in his office as mayor of London and as an MP, by intentionally misleading the public over how much money the UK spends on EU membership.

Mr Ball launched the case over the claim posted on the side of a bus by the Vote Leave campaign, alleging that the UK sent £350 million a week to the European Union.

He alleges that that claim — described as “a clear misuse of official statistics” by the UK Statistics Authority — was endorsed by Mr Johnson, who was one of the campaign’s leaders.

Mr Ball lodged the case in February and it is due to have its first hearing at Westminster magistrates’ court this afternoon. The case has been listed for the court to consider a preliminary procedural matter, which will be done in private before a public hearing on May 23, when the court will decide whether to issue a summons for Mr Johnson to attend.

Mr Ball describes himself as a “private prosecutor”. He set up Brexit Justice, a not for profit company, to bring the case, which he says he has worked on full time since the referendum.

He is represented by Giles Bright, a partner at the London law firm Bankside Commercial, and a team of three barristers from Church Court Chambers: Lewis Power, QC, Colin Witcher and Anthony Eskander.

Mr Ball said that it was “a world first” for an MP to be prosecuted for misconduct in public office based on allegedly lying to the public.

“My backers and I aspire to set a precedent in the UK common law making it illegal for an elected representative to lie to the public about financial matters. This would be the beginning of the end of lying in politics in the UK,” he said.

“I believe that when politicians lie, democracy dies. If a company director lies to shareholders about financial matters they can be prosecuted. If a self-employed person lies to HMRC about their spending or income they can be prosecuted.

“If a member of the public lies to the police about an ongoing investigation they can be prosecuted. This is because society and public trust cannot function based upon false information. So, why shouldn’t a politician be prosecuted for abusing public trust by lying about public spending figures?”

He added that the case was not intended to frustrate the result of the referendum and that whatever the outcome, the court would not have the power to interfere with the public’s vote in favour of Brexit.

BCL Solicitors, who are understood to act for Mr Johnson, were contacted for comment.

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Stat Brother said:

We should spend that on the NHS.

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WATFORD zero said:

At 350M a week that would be 5 years worth (or 50 years if you're a British traditionalist)

But, or course no one would believe that

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CHAPPERS said:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...t=121_5993100&CMP=TNLEmail_118918_5993100_121

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nicko31 said:

Some are, some are just incredibly ignorant. For many, if they really understood what No Deal meant they wouldn't vote for Farage.

The masses would suffer the consequences of a ND Brexit, He’s the one standing in a ivory tower with bellowing at everyone through to a megaphone to just jump off the cliff. He'll be fine

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The Clamp said:

What are these policies you speak of?

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Two Professors said:

You tell me.I was talking about remain parties slagging off Farage instead of telling us their policies.Do try to keep up,I know it's hard for you.

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Two Professors said:

British Steel have the begging bowl out for the umpteenth time,and trying to blame it on Brexit.Nothing to do with the unions,or their dreadful management,then?
Estimated costs of Brexit so far 2.5 billion,record employment levels,wages going up above inflation,number of EU workers in Great Britain increased by another 100,000 since the New Year.We now have 2.4 million EU workers here,but according to you lot they were all leaving with the EMA.Dimwits.

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nicko31 said:

So May is coming back for a 4th time in early June. Will a Tory wipe out in the Euro's make the Brextremists finally back her deal?

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A catalogue of errors by the Home Office has led to a loss of access to £600,000 of EU funds earmarked for the most deprived people in Britain and has put a further £2.9m at risk, it can be revealed.

The government had tried to claim the money for Theresa May’s flagship policy of helping the victims of modern slavery, but Sajid Javid’s department missed the deadline to recoup the ringfenced money.

Under the watch of the home secretary, who has ambitions to replace May in Downing Street, the UK has been left as the only EU member state to fail to deliver aid to its citizens through the programme, and it is still yet to make an application for the remainder of the £3.5m that was available.


The €3.4bn European Aid to the Most Deprived fund was established as an attempt to help member states meet a poverty reduction target of “lifting at least 20 million people out of the risk of poverty and social exclusion” by the end of 2020.

The British government initially intended to use the money to support breakfast clubs in schools that had particularly high rates of social disadvantage.


Last autumn, the government changed its mind and decided instead to use the cash to back the prime minister’s modern slavery campaign, one of the few policies that has survived her time in Downing Street.

The Home Office took over the application for the funds with the aim of aiding vulnerable 16- to 24-year-olds who had entered the UK through a resettlement scheme, been granted refugee status through the in-country asylum process, or identified as potential victims of modern slavery.

But the Home Office did not draw up the necessary paperwork and secure the agreement of the European commission in time. As a result, the UK failed to claim the initial tranche – £600,000 – of its allocation under the fund by the end of 2018.

The Home Office then set a target of having a proposal ready to submit to the commission provisionally by the end of March 2019, with the programme of works scheduled to begin in July 2019, and with the fund becoming operational in the UK by the end of the year.

As of this week, the proposal has neither been completed nor implemented, raising concerns further funds are going to be lost due to the department’s failures.


Ministers claimed it was necessary to redraft their initial proposal of spending the money on breakfast clubs, because it was impossible to sufficiently supervise and failed meet the commission’s eligibility criteria.

A commission report on use of the fund said 16 million people had benefited from it in 2016 alone, with most (96%) receiving food support, bringing the total beneficiaries between 2014 and 2016 to about 38 million.

None of these beneficiaries were in the UK, as the commission noted “implementation of the fund in the UK has not started yet”, and this remained the case.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Working with the European commission, the Home Office has worked hard to secure funding to support victims of modern slavery and those being resettled in the UK. Given time constraints and commission rules, we were not able to claim all of the funding before the deadline.

“We are grateful to the commission for contributing to our important work supporting some of the most vulnerable.”

Claude Moraes, a Labour MEP who chairs the European Parliament’s home affairs committee, said: “This further damages the reputation of the Home Office.

“In or out of the EU cooperation and alleviation of the suffering caused by modern slavery is a priority on both sides. And critical EU funds are there - there is no excuse”.

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nicko31 said:

2.5B cost to the economy so far, just curious where you got that figure from ?

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nicko31 said:

2.5B cost to the economy so far, just curious where you got that figure from ?

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Herr Tubthumper said:

The land of make believe? This is where everything else our resident high arts loving financially early retired drinking buddy of Bryan Robson and the Luftwaffe’s utterings comes from.

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Two Professors said:

Probably the same place you got your crazy figure from,I made it up.

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Two Professors said:

Think all that VW pollution has finally rotted your brain,but they have a good care system in Germany I believe.

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Two Professors said:

Probably the same place you got your crazy figure from,I made it up.

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