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
Opinion: The European elections show why we must give the public a Final Say on Brexit, writes Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable
"Boris Johnson in court over the £350m on the bus? That will only help make him our next prime minister," writes Independent political commentator John Rentoul.
Read his take here:
More from our roving leadership hopeful Rory Stewart, who is in Wigan today.
You may have forgotten but Sajid Javid, the home secretary, was for quite a while the favourite to succeed Theresa May. No longer. Some Tory MPs are surprised at the state of his campaign, pointing out that he was late to announce and has been ridiculed for his announcement today on boosting police numbers, with critics pointing out that this falls under his current brief as home secretary.
MPs tell The Independent that Mr Javid has taken to calling Tory MPs personally in a bid to win their support - apparently without much luck. These calls took place over the Bank Holiday weekend, when MPs were in their constituencies and with their families, which did not go down well. Mr Javid currently has only around 10 MP backers. One MP who is supporting a rival said: "He's dead in the water."
Bookies are reporting much shorter odds for Michael Gove to make the final two in the Tory leadership run-off.
Commenting on the verdict that Boris Johnson will have to stand trial over accusations of misconduct in public office following a private prosecution, Tory Brexiteer keader Jacob Rees-Mogg says:
"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."
Matt Hancock, the health secretary and one of the Tory leadership candidates, has also criticised the (private) prosecution of Boris Johnson over claims he made during the 2016 referendum campaign. He's just tweeted this:
The Conservative leadership candidates have been responding on Twitter to Nicola Sturgeon's plan to bring forward a second referendum on Scottish independence.
Here is Rory Stewart...
and Sajid Javid...
and James Cleverly...
Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery has risked deepening the party's divisions over Brexit by condemning campaigners for a second referendum.
Writing in The Guardian, he said:
"As someone who has opposed a so-called public vote, not least because parliament has no majority for it in principle and nobody has the faintest idea what we would actually put on the ballot, I have been doggedly attacked by certain sections of the party, as well as those on the outside. It does feel that a certain portion of “leftwing intellectuals” are sneering at ordinary people and piling on those trying to convey the feelings of hundreds of thousands of Labour voters. Perhaps, in reflecting on the results, we should consider the effect all of this has had.
He also said the campaign for another referendum was "associated almost entirely with the Remain campaign", adding: "It does raise the question as to why its proponents don’t simply issue a call to Remain, rather than agitating for another referendum that could easily be won by Leave."
Speaking to Sky News (again), Rory Stewart says he would be most likely to back Jeremy Hunt, Matt Hancock or Michael Gove if he gets knocked out of the Tory leadership contest in the early stages.
Asked how far he expects to get in the race, the international development secretary says: "All I can do is get out and meet people and try to convey a sense of how much I love this country, how much I believe in it, and what an incredible country it could be."
He says the UK is stuck in a "Brexit despair or maelstrom that we've got to break out of".
Asked which other candidates he could end up supporting, he says there are "a lot of good guys" in the race but that he is "closest to" Mr Hancock, Mr Hunt and Mr Gove.
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