BRKG Boris Johnson must go on trial for 'lying and misleading' in Brexit campaign, judge orders

[Melodi]

I guess someone(s) really wants to make sure Boris isn't Prime Minister! I'm posting this as a separate thread because it is important breaking news but it can be combined with other UK/Europe threads later if the mods wish to do so. - Melodi

Boris Johnson must go on trial for 'lying and misleading' in Brexit campaign, judge orders
Lizzie Dearden Home Affairs Correspondent @lizziedearden
12 minutes ago


Boris Johnson is to go on trial for allegedly “lying and misleading the British public” about the consequences of Brexit.

A judge summonsed the Conservative MP to appear in court after a man brought a private prosecution over claims that the cost of EU membership was £350m a week.

District Judge Margot Coleman threw out arguments by Mr Johnson’s lawyers that the case was a “vexatious” attempt to undermine the result of the 2016 referendum.

A written judgment handed down on Wednesday said: “Having considered all the relevant factors I am satisfied that this is a proper case to issue the summons as requested for the three offences as drafted.

“The charges are indictable only. This means the proposed defendant will be required to attend this court for a preliminary hearing, and the case will then be sent to the crown court for trial.”

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[Melodi]

Top Story on Sky News..
BREAKING
Boris Johnson to face court over alleged EU referendum misconduct
The PM contender will face allegations he lied in the run up to the EU referendum over how much the UK sent the EU each week.
By Aubrey Allegretti, political reporter, and Rebecca Taylor, news reporter

Wednesday 29 May 2019 11:03, UK
BORIS JOHNSON
CHESTER-LE-STREET, ENGLAND - MAY 30: Boris Johnson MP walks past the battle bus during a visit Chester-Le-Street Cricket Club as part of the Brexit tour on May 30, 2016 in Chester-Le-Street, England. Boris Johnson and the Vote Leave campaign are touring the UK in their Brexit Battle Bus on a campaign hoping to persuade voters to back leaving the European Union in the June 23rd referendum. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
Image:
The allegations relate to the amount Mr Johnson said the UK sent the EU each week



Why you can trust Sky News
Boris Johnson is to be summonsed to court to face accusations of misconduct in a public office, over claims he made that the UK sent the EU £350m a week.

It relates to comments the former Mayor of London made while campaigning for the UK to leave the EU before the 2016 referendum.

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Marcus Ball has now brought a private prosecution against the former foreign secretary, saying he misled the public during the campaign and again at the 2017 general election.

"Democracy demands responsible and honest leadership from those in public office," Mr Ball said previously.

"The conduct of the proposed defendant Boris Johnson was both irresponsible and dishonest.


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"It was, we say, criminal."

He alleges Mr Johnson misrepresented the amount of money Britain sends the EU by using the figure £350m a week.
https://news.sky.com/story/boris-jo...ver-alleged-eu-referendum-misconduct-11730747

 

[Richard]

Some questions:

OK so how much is the EU costing the British taxpayer.

Why was this prosecution brought now and not two years ago.

 

[Richard]

https://fullfact.org/europe/our-eu-membership-fee-55-million/

The UK's EU membership fee

The UK pays more into the EU budget than it gets back.

In 2017 the UK government paid £13 billion to the EU budget, and EU spending on the UK was forecast to be £4 billion. So the UK’s ‘net contribution’ was estimated at nearly £9 billion.

Each year the UK gets a discount on its contributions to the EU—the ‘rebate’—worth about £5.6 billion last year. Without it the UK would have been liable for £18.6 billion in contributions.



The UK doesn’t pay or "send to Brussels" this higher figure of £18.6 billion, or anything equivalent per week or per day. The rebate is applied straight away (its size is calculated based on the previous year's contributions), so the UK never contributes this much.

The UK’s contributions to the budget vary from year to year, and are forecast to grow towards the end of the decade. They’ve been larger recently than in previous decades.



A membership fee isn’t the same as the total economic cost or benefit of EU membership.

Being in the EU costs money but does it also create trade, jobs and investment that are worth more?

We can be pretty sure about how much cash we put in, but it’s far harder to be sure about how much, if anything, comes back in economic benefits.

£350 million a week doesn’t include the rebate

It’s been claimed that we send £350 million a week to the EU. That misses out the rebate, and it doesn’t represent the total economic costs and benefits of EU membership to the UK.

£350 million is roughly what we would pay to the EU budget without the rebate. The UK actually paid closer to £250 million a week.

The UK Statistics Authority has said the EU membership fee figure of £19 billion a year, or £350 million a week, is "not an amount of money that the UK pays to the EU each year".

Since then, the new chair of the Authority described use of the figure by the Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, as “a clear misuse of official statistics”.

The UK gets money back

The government then gets some of that money back, mainly through payments to farmers and for poorer areas of the country such as Wales and Cornwall.

In 2017, the UK's ‘public sector receipts’ are estimated to be £4 billion.

So overall we paid in £8.9 billion more than we got back

The Treasury figures note payments the EU makes directly to the private sector, such as research grants. In 2015, these were worth an estimated £1.5 billion, so including them could reduce our net contribution further still.

The money we get back will be spent on things the government may or may not choose to fund upon leaving the EU. It’s not enough to look at the net contribution in isolation because what we get back isn’t fully under our control.

Different figures from different sources

The Treasury's European Union Finances release provides the best figures for the UK’s contributions to the EU budget, according to the ONS.

The Treasury and ONS both publish figures on the subject, but they're slightly different. The ONS also publishes other figures on contributions to EU institutions which don't include all our payments or receipts, which complicates matters.

The ONS figures ultimately come from the Treasury, and the numbers aren't the same because they categorise and account for the payments differently.

The European Commission is still another source of information which shows lower contributions.

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By Full Fact Team

 

[Richard]

Some problems with the figures?

250 million a week is 13 billion a year.

8 Billion per year is approx 154 million a week.

So the net cost of Britain's membership is 154 million a week? The article is ambiguous iMO.

 

[Melodi]

Soem questions:

OK so how much is the EU costing the British taxpayer.

Why was this prosecution brought now and not two years ago.

Probably because two years ago he didn't look like the strongest candidate to take over as Prime Minister (that doesn't mean he will but he could).

 

[Richard]

The British public want exit but a new PM whoever that is, will not be able to negotiate a better deal with the EU or gain the support of other parties.

So Britain's first ever attempt at democracy via referendum could end in complete stalemate or disaster, the whole process being stymied by politicians in the EU and the UK against the wishes of the people.

The Conservatives must involve Nigel Farage in the negotiations to placate the public, if he cannot get a deal then it'll show the public that no-one can, OTOH he may get a deal.

 

[Melodi]

The British public want exit but a new PM will not be able to negotiate a better deal with the EU or gain the support of other parties.

So Britain's first ever attempt at democracy via referendum could end in complete stalemate or disaster, the whole process being stymied by politicians in the EU and the UK against the wishes of the people.

Well said..

 

[WalknTrot]

While TPTB try to "Trump" Boris Johnson (looks to me like the loons in UK are taking lessons from the American Left media/courts), they'd best be careful or they might end up with Nigel Farage as PM.

 

[Doat]

“Lying and misleading” he is a politician, would else would you expect.

 

[Marthanoir]

Theres too many in the Conservative Party that dislike Boris, my money is on Esther McVey, Brexitier, popular with younger Tory voters, doesn't have Boris's baggage and Female so Labour can't accuse the Tories of misogynistic selection , even though the Tories have had 2 female leaders and Labour have had none.

British politics is crazy at the best of times..