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UK in EU Challenge Solicitors Write to Prime Minister and Metropolitan Police Ahead of Court of Appeal

20 February 2019
by eub2 -- last modified 20 February 2019

With a Court of Appeal hearing due to take place on Thursday 21 February, solicitors for the UK in EU claimants, headed by Bremain in Spain's Sue Wilson, have written to the Prime Minister to question once again the legitimacy of the Brexit referendum and ask her to consider extending the Article 50 process and/or holding another referendum.


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The letter, issued by Croft Solicitors, references the parliamentary report, published on Monday, which concluded that current electoral law isn't fit for purpose and that personal data concerning members of public was used by private companies, frequently in a political context, to influence their decisions.

During summer 2018, the Electoral Commission found the Leave Campaigns guilty of illegal overspending during the Brexit referendum campaign, resulting in a maximum possible fine and referrals to the Metropolitan Police and the National Crime Agency.

The claimants believe this latest report casts yet further doubt that the referendum represented the "democratic will of the people", which the Prime Minister has repeatedly stated as the sole basis of her decision to enact Article 50.

Croft Solicitors has also written to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to understand whether a scoping project into Leave campaign behaviour will result in a full criminal investigation.

Sue Wilson, UK in EU Challenge lead claimant and chair of Bremain in Spain, said: "New evidence has been popping up on a fairly regular basis, but the silence surrounding these wrongdoings and the subsequent investigations has been deafening."

"It's because of the Leave's campaigns' misdeeds that our case against Theresa May is so important. We aim to prove that May's decision to trigger Article 50 was flawed and should be declared invalid, based as it was on the result of an untrustworthy referendum. Vote Leave broke the law and, in doing so, seriously skewed the result. The Prime Minister believed that the narrow margin for Leave gave her a mandate to deliver Brexit, but that referendum result could not be trusted then and cannot be trusted now. We hope that the court will see it that way too."

Rupert Croft, managing director of Croft Solicitors, which is acting for UK in EU Challenge, said: "There's mounting evidence that reinforces our clients' view that the legitimacy of the Referendum is open to considerable doubt."

"Our clients are concerned that there's been serious manipulation of our electoral system, including by foreign interests hostile to the UK. They want the Prime Minister to take action in response to what's been discovered and may yet be discovered by the National Crime Agency and the Metropolitan Police in their investigations."

Bremain in Spain is a group campaigning for the UK to remain in the European Union and to protect the rights of British migrants living and working in Spain. Run by a team of volunteers and chaired by Sue Wilson - a resident of the Valencian Community - the group advocates a tolerant and outward-looking society. It believes this is best achieved by the UK remaining a member of the EU. Bremain in Spain is part of the British in Europe coalition of 10 UK citizens' groups across the EU. It is also affiliated to Britain for Europe and European Movement.

Bremain in Spain
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