Arron Banks and Liz Bilney, the CEO of Leave.EU, follow in the footsteps of Darren Grimes by winning in the High Court against the Electoral Commission. Today the Electoral Commission agreed terms of settlement over the Electoral Commission’s announcement in November 2018 of its referral of Banks and Bilney to the National Crime Agency for further investigation.
The NCA stated publicly on 24 September 2019 that having investigated the matters referred by the Electoral Commission, it found that there was no evidence of any criminal offences having been committed by Banks or Bilney. The NCA further notified the Electoral Commission that its investigation showed that the monies Mr Banks used to fund the loans came from the group of companies of which Mr Banks was the ultimate beneficial owner. Today the Electoral Commission finally admitted it was wrong on all counts:
The Electoral Commission considers it was right to refer this matter to the NCA for further investigation, but confirms that it accepts (a) the NCA’s conclusions that it found no evidence that any criminal offences have been committed under PPERA or company law by Mr Banks or Ms Bilney; and (b) the NCA had not received any evidence to suggest that Mr Banks or his companies received funding from any third party.
All that nonsense about Russians? Nyet.
The official Electoral Commission statement says
The National Crime Agency, after its own investigation, has (i) concluded that there is no evidence that any criminal offences have been committed under PPERA or company law by any of the individuals or organisations referred to it by the Electoral Commission; and (ii) has stated that it has not received any evidence to suggest that Mr Banks and his companies received funding from any third party to fund the loans subject to the investigation, or that Mr Banks acted as an agent on behalf of a third party. The Electoral Commission accepts these conclusions.
The Commission’s case was absolute nonsense. Parliament has oversight of the Electoral Commission, there must be a reckoning. It is not fit for purpose…
Aaron Banks’s Brexit campaign, Leave.EU, has declared its support for Boris’s new Brexit deal. The endorsement comes as Farage maintains he would rather have an extension than leaving on October 31 with the deal. Paying billions more to the EU in pursuit of a pure Brexit that is out of reach…
Leave.EU – who are among the most hardline Brexit campaign groups, and a week ago called Angela Merkal a ‘kraut’ – are the latest surprise backers of the PM’s deal, falling in line just after Stuart Rose, the Chairman of Britain Stronger in Europe. The endorsement might prove crucial to the final hardline Tory Spartans yet to decide whether to back the deal…
The National Crime Agency has concluded that Arron Banks and Leave.EU did not commit a criminal offence after the Electoral Commission referred allegations to them.
The NCA has full access to bank transactions and found nothing illegal or untoward. Carole Cadwallader’s absurd conspiracy theories have once again been found to have zero credibility – she should make a settlement offer this afternoon…
The conclusion reads as follows:
The NCA investigation has concluded that:
- Mr Banks took a loan from Rock Holdings Ltd, a company of which he is the ultimate beneficial owner. He was legally entitled to do so.
- Mr Banks was legally entitled, in his capacity as an individual, to release these funds to Better for the Country Ltd, by instructing another of his companies, Rock Services Ltd, to make the transactions on his behalf.
- Rock Holdings Ltd was not involved in these transactions in a manner which contravened PPERA.
The NCA has found no evidence that any criminal offences have been committed under PPERA or company law by any of the individuals or organisations referred to it by the Electoral Commission. It will therefore take no further action against Mr Banks, Ms Bilney, Better for the Country Ltd or Leave.EU in respect of this specific matter.
Despite successive recent defeats, the Electoral Commission have refused to back down, saying, “We urge the UK’s governments to act on those recommendations to support voter confidence”, today’s Electoral Commission defeat is another example of how it simply isn’t fit for purpose…
After spending most of the last three years trying to blame the poor performance of his overpriced, mediocre restaurant chain on Brexit, Guido was surprised with the news earlier this week that none other than Jamie Oliver had apparently seen the light on Brexit. While Oliver still said he thought Brexit was “a really, really bad idea”, he had decided he now “believes in democracy” and wants us to “get on with it”. He even took up championing a new trade deal with the US. A tear ran down his face. He had learned to love Big Brexit.
Unfortunately it appears his Damascene Conversion has not lasted long, as Leave.EU have found. Following their celebration of the chef’s new-found love of democracy, Oliver’s legal team sent them a cease and desist letter, claiming his pro-Brexit statements are not accurate – despite them being direct quotes from him in an interview with The Times. His U-turn wouldn’t have anything to do with the news that Oliver’s hated turkey twizzlers could be making a comeback at schools in the event of a no-deal Brexit…?
The Brexit-bashing Twitterati have finally been starting to feel the consequences of putting out their endless stream of slurs and abuse against Brexiteers – last week the Guardian paid up in full after defaming Isabel Oakeshott. Now it’s 29-year-old ‘youth activist’ Femi Oluwole who is facing legal action over a series of tweets he put out last week trying to link Brexit Party Chairman Richard Tice with anti-Semitism over a tweet sent out by Leave.EU last year. Tice’s lawyers asked Femi to withdraw the the tweets by Saturday night but he failed to do so, Tice has now initiated formal legal proceedings…
Tice left Leave.EU in June 2016, the tweet Femi was highlighting is from over two years later in October 2018. Last time Tice launched libel action his lawyers Wedlake Bell won him an apology and costs from SNP MEP Alyn Smith and an on-air Newsnight apology. Femi likes to go on about his legal credentials, he’s about to find up whether they stack up in a court of law…
Remainer Tory MPs’ go-to excuse when facing local members angry over flagrant betrayals of their manifesto commitments has been to dismiss it as “entryism”, despite there being no solid evidence for it whatsoever. It suits Remainer Tory MPs to blame Leave.EU rather than unhappy local members. Blame that Arron Banks gleefully accepts…
Instead of idle speculation, YouGov have done a rigorous study into Tory members, when they joined the party and why. While a large number of recent joiners did say it was because they wanted a vote in the leadership election, the vast majority were Tory supporters already before they actually joined the party. Leadership contests have always been good recruiting tools for pre-existing supporters who just haven’t bothered to join the party they back:
Whilst recent joiners are more likely to support Boris, even pre-2015 members still overwhelmingly prefer Boris to Hunt by 63% to 37%, so it’s largely immaterial to the final result. There’s simply no evidence that there’s been entryism on any significant scale – newer members may be more ‘Brexity’ but they are still overwhelmingly Tories. Brexit-blocking MPs have no excuse for not listening to the genuine concerns of hard-working local members any more…
