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”.
Follow our coverage of how the day unfolded
The way the government funds English councils is "unsustainable" and action must be taken to address it, a report has said.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said funding for local authorities in England had fallen by more than one-fifth – 21 per cent – between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
Spending on planning and housing services dropped by more than half while leisure and transport departments saw cuts of more than 40 per cent.
Researchers for the IFS said the situation was set to worsen as revenues from council tax and business rates were unlikely to keep pace with rising costs and demands.
The government said it was giving councils a "real-terms increase" in funding this year, and would look at funding for local services as part of the Spending Review.
Schoolchildren and hospital patients could be fed lamb chops in the event of a no-deal Brexit, a Conservative leadership candidate has said, writes Benjamin Kentish.
Kit Malthouse, the housing minister, said thousands of tons of British "sheep meat" that are currently exported could instead be bought by the government and sent to schools and hospitals if the EU refuses to delay Brexit further.
The Eurosceptic minister joined the Tory leadership race on Monday, promising to bring "fresh new ideas" to the debate.
A big increase in skilled immigration from outside the EU is needed to plug gaps in key jobs amid considerable Brexit uncertainty, according to an official review for the Home Office.
The report from the influential Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) calls on ministers to significantly expand the UK's list of understaffed occupations.
More here from our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn:
Possible Tory leadership hopeful Steve Baker is upping the stakes with this video ahead of an apparent sky dive. It comes as contender Rory Stewart has been popping up all over the country to talk to voters.
Sarah Vine has used her Daily Mail column to make a blatant leadership pitch on behalf of her husband Michael Gove.
She writes: "Michael, I know, has never felt that way for one single second. His Euroscepticism is as deeply ingrained in him as his love of the United Kingdom. And while he is wary of the consequences of a no-deal Brexit, he is equally determined that Britain will, one way or another, leave the EU.
"Like all husbands, Michael has his flaws: a fondness for corduroy, an inability to go anywhere (including dinner) without a book, a passion for Wagnerian opera, an obsession with Strictly, an entirely irrational dislike of houseplants and, of course, the usual pathological male inability to operate a dishwasher.
"But one thing he cannot be accused of in respect of Brexit is giving up. Indeed, I'd go so far as to say that, for him, delivering the result of the 2016 referendum has become more important than almost anything else — and I'll be backing him to the hilt."
Three Conservative leadership candidates have been accused of playing a 'cheap trick' after jointly pledging to run 'clean' campaigns
Rory Stewart, one of the Tory leadership candidates, has pledged to double the amount of UK aid being spent on on tackling climate change.
The international development secretary said he would increase spending from £1.1bn to £2.2bn over five years.
He told Sky News: "I want to make DfID [the Department for International Development[ centred on climate change and the environment.
He added:
"We are facing an environment cataclysm. Quite literally the ice shelf is going ten times more quickly than people expected, we are about to lose maybe a million species on Earth and that is even before you count the fact that 100 million more people will be in poverty unless we tackle this. We have to tackle this."
He continued:
"The real lesson of the last 10 to 15 years is that poverty and climate are actually one of the same thing.
"We are facing a people emergency and a climate emergency and it is the same emergency because actually that poverty is driven by the desertification in the Sahara, it's been driven by agriculture crops no longer being able to be grown in Africa, it is driven by a thousand factors."
The EU has split up its Brexit negotiating team, fuelling speculation that it will never reopen discussions with the UK
Labour is criticising Sajid Javid for his pledge to increase police numbers - pointing out that he is the current home secretary and previously voted for budget cuts.
Louise Haigh, the shadow policing minister, tweets...
Nicola Sturgeon has said it would be a "democratic outrage" if the UK government blocks her attempts to force another referendum on Scottish independence.
Publishing a bill that would pave the way for a second vote, Scotland's first minister said she would "seek agreement to a transfer of power at an appropriate point to enable an independence referendum that is beyond challenge to be held later in this parliament".
She said:
"It is essential the UK government recognises that it would be a democratic outrage if it seeks to block such a referendum - indeed, any such stance would, in my view, prove to be utterly unsustainable."
She continued:
"Now, more than ever, it is essential that we keep Scotland's options open so that people have the opportunity to choose a better future."
"An independence referendum within this parliamentary term will give Scotland the opportunity to choose to be an independent European nation - rather than have a Brexit future imposed upon us.
"Throughout the Brexit process, Scotland has been treated with contempt by Westminster, and our efforts to find compromise and protect the interests of the people of Scotland, who voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU, have been ignored."
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