Brexit news: Rees-Mogg rages over move to put Boris Johnson on trial for 'lying and misleading', as rival launches expletive-laden attack
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson must appear in court to face allegations of lying to the British public during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign, a judge has said.
The Conservative leadership frontrunner was summonsed after a campaigner brought a private prosecution over claims that EU membership cost the UK £350m a week.
The frontrunner in the Tory leadership race has been accused of misconduct in public office after making the claim during the campaign, following a private prosecution by campaigner Marcus Ball.
Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg said the decision was a “troubling” abuse of process.
He told the Press Association: “It is trying to use the courts to achieve a political end which, I think, is neither right or proper. This is involving the courts in something that is not their area.
“We need courts and politicians to respect each other, and it is an abuse of process, and a troubling one. It has been brought by people who are resentful of the referendum result.”
And Conservative former cabinet minister and barrister David Mellor said the ruling was a “deplorable absurdity”, and that courts should not adjudicate on what politicians do during election campaigns.
“I imagine there will be no shortage of senior judges who will feel acutely embarrassed about this,” he told the Press Association.
“Politicians at election times exaggerate, and say things that may or may not be true, and it’s the electorate, not the courts, who should decide whether they are reliable or not.
“This is a bad day for British justice. But probably, contrary to the wishes of those who have crowdfunded this nonsense, a big boost to Boris. Is that what they really intended? Nutty, nutty, nutty.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who is also vying for the top job, said: “However people voted in the referendum, we shouldn’t have courts judging on political debates.
“Let’s have robust debate to test arguments – and keep courts out of politics.”
It came after the EU slapped down Tory leadership hopefuls aiming to alter the Brexit deal, with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker warning the bloc was “crystal clear” that “there will be no re-negotiation”.
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London is losing its status as the world’s most important financial centre to New York because of the Brexit crisis, according to a global survey of executives, writes Phil Thomas.
The British capital fell 17 per cent on last year when bosses were asked to name the world's top financial centre, with New York rising 10 per cent.
For the research, consultants Duff & Phelps asked 180 senior figures in asset management, private equity, hedge funds, banking and brokerage.
On the subject of Labour's expulsion of Alastair Campbell, Tom Watson has called for an "amnesty" for other members who voted outside the party.
He said: "It is very clear that many thousands of Labour Party members voted for other parties last week. They were disappointed with the position on Brexit that a small number of people on the NEC inserted into our manifesto. They were sending the NEC a message that our position lacked clarity and they were right.
"It is spiteful to resort to expulsions when the NEC should be listening to members. The politics of intolerance holds no future for the Labour Party. A broad church party requires pluralism and tolerance to survive."
Legislation designed to allow a second Scottish independence referendum has been published at Holyrood.
Nicola Sturgeon said the Referendums (Scotland) Bill would give people the chance to "choose a better future".
The proposed law does not specify when a possible second referendum would take place or the question that would be put to voters – leaving these to be set by secondary regulations.
The Scottish government said this could happen if Westminster granted it the power to stage another vote through a Section 30 order, which Theresa May has repeatedly refused to do.
It's been a bit text-heavy this morning so I'm going to post a picture or two that have stood out to me from recent Brexit and politics coverage.
First up, this shot of new Brexit Party MEPs at a news conference following the results of the European Parliament elections, by Henry Nicholls of Reuters.
Not only has he captured a brilliant range of expressions and gestures, each of the four main subjects has their own space in the image; and, importantly, Ann Widdecombe's hands do not extend outside the frame.
Nigel Farage with Brexit Party MEPs, 27 May (Reuters)
Is there a 12th Tory leadership candidate on the way? Jesse Norman, financial secretary to the treasury, has told Today he is "consulting" on whether he should run. He added: "We have to be true to the idea of One Nation."
Meanwhile, Twitter users are asking the big questions.
No-deal Brexit is more an abstract concept than a policy option/proposal. As concept, it is like Britain’s Trident nuclear missiles – a weapon so terrible that using it would invite retaliation and, thus, vast damage to both sides in any conflict, writes Sean O'Grady for our Politics Explained series.
If the threat of such use is credible, that very fact makes the actual use of it unnecessary – the deterrent effect.
As Boris Johnson explains it: “No one sensible would aim exclusively for a no-deal outcome. No one responsible would take no deal off the table.”
Rovin' Rory Stewart (which is how I imagine Donald Trump might nickname him) has said he plans to take his "dodgy camera" to Wigan on his Brexit engagement tour.
The Wigan constituency voted Leave by 63.9 to 36.1 per cent in 2016.
Jonathan Reynolds, Labour MP in Stalybridge and Hyde, had a regional recommendation for the Tory leadership candidate.
The pie barm is also known as the "Wigan kebab".
Here's another good politics image. Polling day is a tough one for journalists to illustrate sometimes because voting is not often a visually exciting procedure.
Politicians traipsing into the parish hall to vote for themselves do not cut especially fascinating figures, so Joe Public becomes the star. (Remember the woman waiting outside a polling station with her horse last Thursday?)
This image by AP's Andreea Alexandru is a portrait and a study in form – the girl's accessory mirrors the EU flag nicely. There's also a wider version that includes the ballot boxes.
It makes you think about how democracy fits into people's lives. What else was her family doing on Sunday? What does she think about accompanying her mother to the polls? What will the EU look like when she is old enough to vote?
A girl waits for her mother to vote, in front of voting cabins with curtains depicting the European Union flag in Baleni, Romania, 26 May (AP)
BREAKING NEWS
Boris Johnson is to go on trial for allegedly "lying and misleading the British public" about the consequences of Brexit, writes Lizzie Dearden.
A judge summonsed the Conservative MP to appear in court after a man brought a private prosecution.
John Bercow has given a further boost to MPs hoping to thwart a no-deal Brexit by insisting he will not quit the crucial Speaker’s chair this summer, writes Rob Merrick.
Some “friends” of Mr Bercow had suggested he was about to make way, but he insisted: “I've never said anything about going in July of this year.”
The Speaker added: “Now is a time in which momentous events are taking place and there are great issues to be resolved and, in those circumstances, it doesn't seem to me sensible to vacate the chair.”
The comments are a clear reference to threats by Boris Johnson and other Tory leadership contenders to crash out of the EU with no agreement in October, if necessary.
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