Brexit campaign accused of breaching spending rules
July 17, 2018
Britain's Electoral Commission has fined the Vote Leave campaign for "serious breaches of the law." The Brexit group has accused the Commission of being "motivated by a political agenda."
Image: Reuters/Y. Herman
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The UK's Electoral Commission announced on Tuesday that it has referred Vote Leave's spending figures to the Metropolitan Police for an alleged breach of electoral law during the campaign for the referendum on Britain's EU membership.
The statutory body, which regulates referendum standards, said in a statement that it found "significant evidence of undeclared joint working" between the official Brexit campaign group, Vote Leave, and the smaller pro-Brexit youth group BeLeave.
It alleged that Vote Leave, the pro-Brexit campaign group, and BeLeave, another campaign group, worked to a common plan during the Brexit campaign. The Commission said that BeLeave spent 675,000 pounds ($893,500; €762,600) with Aggregate IQ, a company which used social media data to target voters.
David Halsall, the person responsible for Vote Leave, and Darren Grimes, the founder of BeLeave, were accused of submitting false campaign spending declarations.
No mandate for Brexit
Barrister Jo Maugham, who called for the Commission to investigate the breach of parliamentary rules, greeted the decision on Tuesday saying: "I do not believe the referendum result, a result won by illegality, 'cheating' if you like, can be said to represent the will of the people on that day in June 2016. The referendum should no longer be pretended to provide any mandate for Brexit."
Labour's David Lammy, who is campaigning for another referendum on the issue said the report means the "narrow referendum result looks dodgier than ever."
Conservative lawmaker Sarah Wollaston said via Twitter: "Brexit was not only sold on deliberate lies and false promises, but also by breaking electoral law."
In response to the allegations, Vote Leave said there was no evidence of wrongdoing in the Brexit campaign. A Vote Leave spokesman said, "The Electoral Commission's report contains a number of false accusations and incorrect assertions that are wholly inaccurate and do not stand up to scrutiny." He accused the commission of being motivated by a political agenda, and said the group was confident the commission's findings would be overturned.
There's a spectrum of options on Britain's future relationship with the EU, each with a distinct set of advantages and disadvantages. While euroskeptic purists favor a clean "hard Brexit," others favor a softer landing.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R.Vieira/W.Rothermel
Hard or soft options
It's essentially a choice of a harder or softer Brexit. Harder prioritizes border control over trade. UK firms would pay tariffs to do business in the EU, and vice versa. The softest Brexit would see access to the single market, or at least a customs union, maintained. That would require concessions — including the payment of a hefty "divorce bill" — to which the UK has provisionally agreed.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R.Vieira/W.Rothermel
A leap into the unknown
Businesses have expressed concern about a "cliff edge" scenario, where Britain leaves the EU with no deal. Even if an agreement is reached at the EU bloc level, the worry is that it could be rejected at the last minute. Each of the 27 remaining countries must ratify the arrangements, and any might reject them. That could mean chaos for businesses and individuals.
If there is no agreement at all, a fully sovereign UK would be free to strike new trade deals and need not make concessions on the rights of EU citizens living in the UK or pay the financial settlement of outstanding liabilities. However, trade would be crippled. UK citizens in other parts of the EU would be at the mercy of host governments. There would also be a hard EU-UK border in Ireland.
Image: Imago
Divorce-only deal
The EU and the UK could reach a deal on Britain's exiting the bloc without an agreement on future relations. This scenario would still be a very hard Brexit, but would at least demonstrate a degree of mutual understanding. Trade agreements would be conducted, on an interim basis, on World Trade Organization rules.
Image: Fotolia/Jens Klingebiel
Limited arrangement, like with Canada
Most trade tariffs on exported goods are lifted, except for "sensitive" food items like eggs and poultry. However, exporters would have to show their products are genuinely "made in Britain" so the UK does not become a "back door" for global goods to enter the EU. Services could be hit more. The City of London would lose access to the passporting system its lucrative financial business relies on.
Under the Swiss model, the UK would have single market access for goods and services while retaining most aspects of national sovereignty. Switzerland, unlike other members of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA), did not join the European Economic Area (EEA) and was not automatically obliged to adopt freedom of movement. Under a bilateral deal, it agreed to do so but is still dragging its feet.
Image: picture-alliance/Anka Agency International
The Norway way
As part of the European Economic Area, Norway has accepted freedom of movement – something that no Brexit-supporting UK government would be likely to do. Norway still has to obey many EU rules and is obliged to make a financial contribution to the bloc while having no voting rights. Some see this as the worst of both worlds.
Image: dapd
A Turkey-style customs union
Turkey is the only major country to have a customs union with the EU, as part of a bilateral agreement. Under such an arrangement, the UK would not be allowed to negotiate trade deals outside the EU, instead having the bloc negotiate on its behalf. Many Brexiteers would be unwilling to accept this. It would, however, help minimize disruption at ports and, crucially, at the Irish border.
Image: Reuters/N. Hall
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A breakdown of the fines
The investigation, which opened in November 2017, focused on Vote Leave, as well as three people: David Halsall, Darren Grimes and David Banks. The Electoral Commission fined each of them for breaching electoral law.
David Halsall: As the person responsible for Vote Leave, Halsall was fined £20,000 for failing to deliver a complete statement of all payments made for Vote Leave, a further £1,000 for failing to attach the required invoices and receipts to the statement, and £20,000 for incurring spending in excess of the statutory spending limit for Vote Leave.
Vote Leave: Fined £20,000 for failing to produce documents by a specific date.
Darren Grimes: Acting on behalf on BeLeave, Grimes was fined £20,000 for incurring spending that exceeded the legal limit for a non-registered campaigner. Grimes is further accused of failing to deliver a complete spending return as an individual registered campaigner, however received no additional fine for this offense.
David Banks: As the person responsible for Veterans for Britain, Banks was fined £250 for failing to deliver a spending return that included an accurate report of relevant donations received.
Brexit: Right-wing leaders across Europe rejoice
Anti-EU politicians across the Europe have been quick to rejoice in the referendum results in the United Kingdom.
Image: PetrMach.cz
Marine Le Pen - France
"Victory for liberty! As I have been demanding for years, there must now be the same referendum in France and in all countries in the EU," said Marine Le Pen, leader of France's right-wing Front National.
Image: Reuters/Y. Herman
Frauke Petry - Germany
"The time has come for a new Europe!" said Alternative for Germany leader Frauke Petry.
Image: Reuters/W. Rattay
Geert Wilders - Netherlands
"Hurrah for the British! Now it is our turn. Time for a Dutch referendum!"
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Koning
Norbert Hofer - Austria
"The EU has to walk in a new direction now if it wants to survive."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H.Tosun
Vladimir Zhirinovsky - Russia
"We will send a telegram congratulating Prime Minister Cameron: 'Dear David, friend of ours, we are happy that the British people have made the right choice regardless of your propaganda. Of course, you need to resign immediately.'"
Image: dapd
Viktor Orban - Hungary
"Brussels must hear the voice of the people, this is the biggest lesson from this decision ...Europe is strong only if it can give answers to major issues such as Immigration... The EU has failed to give these answers."
Image: Reuters
Vojislav Seselj - Serbia
Ultranationalist leader Vojislav Seselj said the referendum result "brought joy to Serbians everywhere." "The English have hammered a wooden stake through the heart of EU's corpse," he added.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Sulejmanovic
Petr Mach - Czech Republic
"I congratulate Great Britain on its decision and especially congratulate my colleague Nigel Farage, who has endeavored for decades to discombobulate Britain from the collar of this socialist EU."
