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
Analysis: Boris Johnson Vs Michael Gove will be the most spectacular political battle in years, writes political commentatorAndrew Grice
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This is a pretty astonishing attack on Labour's deputy leader, Tom Watson, from a member of the party's National Executive Committee...
A source in the Boris Johnson camp has responded to the decision to make him stand trial for allegations of misconduct in public office.
They said the private prosecution was "nothing less than a politically motivated attempt to reverse Brexit and crush the will of the people".
They added:
"The claimant has openly admitted that his plan is to overturn the referendum via a legal challenge and he clearly intends to try and undermine the one man who can truly deliver Brexit.
"The decision to issue a summons is extraordinary, and flies in the face of hundreds of years of British democratic tradition."
Dominic Raab is the latest Conservative MP to criticise the legal action against Boris Johnson, suggesting it could have a damaging impact on "free speech and democratic debate".
The Tory leadership contender has told ITV News:
"I think the one thing I would say as a matter of principle is that I do worry a little about the timing of this as a private prosecution, and the sense that the cut and thrust of democratic debate ought to be decided by your viewers, rather than in court.
"And I think that in order to preserve free speech and democratic debate that's something we should all think carefully and consider."
This photo of a young Dominic Raab is causing a bit of a stir on social media...
The Conservative Party risks being captured by the "narrow nationalism, phobia-filled and poisonous politics of Nigel Farage", Lord Heseltine has warned.
In a speech to mark his appointment as the president of the pro-EU pressure group European Movement, the former deputy prime minister will call on Tory leadership candidates to reject no deal as an option.
He will say: "Such a decision, which would deny either Parliament or the people a say on a no deal outcome that neither wants, would be nothing short of a democratic and constitutional outrage.
"If successful, the consequences for businesses, for young people and for the integrity of the United Kingdom itself would rightly be hung around the neck of the Conservative Party for a generation to come."
Lord Heseltine admitted he voted Liberal Democrat at the recent European parliament elections and had the Tory whip removed beforehand after he stated his intention to do so.
Lord Heseltine will say it is not too late for the Conservative Party to change direction on Brexit and to back a second referendum.
He will add: "If we've learnt anything over the past year it must be that we now know that we cannot enjoy all the rights of being a member of the EU with none on the responsibilities that necessarily go with it.
"The heady, if intellectually incoherent, claim that we can have our cake and eat it has ended up choking the mother of Parliament itself.
"Today, I want to appeal to every sensible Conservative MP, to potential leadership candidates, even to the Labour leader, not to force Brexit upon us now.
"I ask them to stand up, to speak out for our democratic right to have our say on Brexit.
"Whether you want to leave the EU or to stay in, the only way to unlock the Brexit process in Parliament, the only way to secure a stable majority in Parliament, the only way to legitimise the outcome so we can build a lasting settlement in the country is to give the people the final say."
More on Lord Heseltine's statement, from our political editor Andrew Woodcock:
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