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UK in EU Legal Challenge Awaits Court Decision

19 September 2018
by eub2 -- last modified 19 September 2018

Bremain in Spain - whose chair, Sue Wilson, is the lead claimant in the UK in EU Legal Challenge against the Prime Minister - reports on the progress of the case.


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On Friday 14 September, the UK Divisional Court ruled that the Electoral Commission had misinterpreted the law re the Brexit referendum and legal campaign spending limits. The Good Law Project, led by barrister Jolyon Maugham QC, had issued proceedings in October 2017, challenging the failure of the Electoral Commission to properly regulate the referendum. Friday's decision confirmed that the Electoral Commission had "got the law wrong", having misinterpreted legitimate "referendum expenses" and given incorrect advice to the Vote Leave campaign.

Jolyon Maugham said: "The Electoral Commission unlawfully gave permission to Vote Leave to spend more than Parliament had allowed. It gave that permission to Vote Leave but there is no suggestion it gave it to Stronger In. The body in charge of ensuring the Referendum was fair ensured that it was unfair."

Adam Wagner, Barrister for the UK in EU Challenge commented on Twitter: "This further supports the @UKEUchallenge case that there was serious and significant unlawful conduct in the EU Referendum which renders the result undemocratic and illegitimate."

Sue Wilson said: "We already knew that Vote Leave had broken the law by overspending, ironically because the Electoral Commission proved it 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. It now seems clear that the scale of that overspending is even greater than we thought."

Wilson continued: "It would appear that the inaccurate advice given to the Vote Leave campaign was not given to the Remain campaign, so the balance of spending was seriously skewed in Leave's favour. The referendum result is, therefore, tainted and can hardly be regarded as the 'will of the people'."

Charlie Mullins OBE, founder of Pimlico Plumbers, is a supporter of the UK in EU Challenge and previously supported the Gina Miller case. He commented: "The court decision on Friday says it all. Even with the Electoral Commission giving Leave free reign, they broke the law. Now it has been proven that the commission failed to do its job and enforce the law, we can only wonder at the size of the corruption still to be uncovered. It's high time law and order was restored to British politics - the people deserve better."

The UK in EU Challenge expects an imminent decision from the court regarding the next steps and is hopeful of a full hearing in October.

Wilson concluded: "We will ask that the court declare the referendum result invalid, because of the Leave Campaign's proven disregard for the law. At the very least, we hope that any future referendum be conducted under increased scrutiny and with severe penalties for those that treat penalty fines as a legitimate business expense."

For more information on the UK in EU Legal Challenge - Susan Wilson and others vs. The Prime Minister - please go the Crowd Justice website

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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