The answer to a Written Question yesterday by Stoke MP Jack Brereton has revealed that the police did not pursue the ICO’s referral of the Liberal Democrats over mishandling data during the EU referendum. In 2018, the ICO referred the matter to the police when they received a serious allegation that the LibDems sold private data to the BSE Remain Campaign for £100,000. The case was referred to the Metropolitan Police on 26 October 2018 as the issues fell outside the jurisdiction of the ICO, yet the Met simply said that they were unable to consider it any further.

Guido feels that many will be surprised when they contrast the Met’s decision to not pursue the conduct of an established political party who intended to take part in future elections, with their repeated actions towards an individual in his 20s who has not taken part in any further elections. Some might be inclined to think double standards have been applied…