Boris Johnson is facing life imprisonment, having been summoned to court for three offences of misconduct in public office.
The offences relate to the controversial claim printed on the side of a double-decker bus to the effect that Britain sends the EU £350 million per week.
It's not the cops that have grabbed Boris: the prosecution is being brought privately.
If convicted, I doubt very much that he'll be sent down for life - but that is indeed the maximum penalty.
I can't believe the cps would sanction such a thing - unless there are other factors.
It wouldn't be another attempt to circumvent democracy would it?
The CPS doesn't have to sanction it: private prosecutions may be instigated without reference to the CPS.
However, the CPS can if it wishes take over the case and discontinue it if it is satisfied that the prosecution is vexatious or malicious.
However, the prosecution must proceed if it can be shown that, on the face of it, it seems that Boris might have committed the alleged offences.
My understanding is that the prosecution will rely on the fact that Boris, on several occasions during the Brexit campaign, used accurate figures with regard to monies sent every year/week to the EU but on other occasions he used different figures intended to mislead the public and thereby affect the way they would vote in the referendum.
A major factor, of course, is that only a tiny proportion of the public ever heard or read about Boris using the accurate figures but an absolutely huge proportion of the public saw the allegedly misleading statement printed on the side of the battlebus.
I think Boris is going to say that the statement painted on the battlebus, although inaccurate, was not wildly inaccurate as Britain does send the EU a figure that might be considered not a million miles away from the figure painted on the bus.
"We send the EU £350 million a week", the statement read, whereas treasury data suggests the actual figure is £327 million a week.
I think the prosecution is going to say that even if the above claim is true, the statement on the battle bus was nevertheless grossly misleading because it refers to money "sent" to the EU and does not mention rebates that mean the amount actually paid every week by Britain to the EU is dramatically less than the figure printed on the side of the bus.
According to treasury data, Britain's net contribution to the EU is £196 million per week.
I feel therefore that the essence of the prosecution won't be whether or not the statement on the bus was wide of the mark in terms of accuracy but whether or not it was misleading and intended to be so.
If old Boris is brought down by this case, the real and dreadful tragedy of the matter will (in my view) be that, if he had used the accurate and non-misleading figure of £196 million, the effect on voters would have been no less dramatic and just as many people who decided to vote to leave after seeing the £350 million figure would have voted to leave if they'd seen a figure of "only" £196 million.
Looks like its been timed to coincide with his leadership bid. But Boris was over 18 billion a year off with his pledge, which did influence 1.2 million NHS workers. How big a mistake do you need to make; burn a Trillion dollars ? Oh wait, that was Trumps Casino. Think of all those unpaid croupiers who's sexual harassment claims were ignored.
Googled it twice eh.
Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 29th May 2019, 5:49 PMGoogled it twice eh.
Boris! Boris!
So good I googled him twice!
Boris! Boris!
All the scandal and the vice!
I love it!
He should be given life imprisonment for his hairdo, if you ask me.
There won't be any politicians left if they start sending them to gaol for not telling the truth. Now there's a thought!
Hope he gets bummed
The BBC news website asks "What is misconduct in public office?" and, in answering its own question for the benefit of readers says "Someone is guilty of the offence if a prosecution can prove that the official wilfully neglected to perform their duty - or "misconducts" themselves - to such a degree that it amounts to an abuse of the public's trust in the office holder.
However, I don't think that is an accurate answer to the question.
This is not my field of expertise but I believe that if a public official misconducts himself while off duty he is NOT guilty of misconduct in public office. Similarly, even if he is at work, if he misconducts himself while doing anything that doesn't form part of his official duties, he is similarly innocent of misconduct in his public office.
The question for the court will, therefore, be whether Boris, when he made his allegedly misleading statements, was acting in his official capacity as an MP or as Mayor of London or as the holder of any other public office or whether he was acting in some other unrelated capacity.
One of the charges relates to statements made by Boris during the 2017 election campaign. If the statements were made after Parliament was dissolved, Boris was no longer an MP and therefore, in my submission, incapable of misconduct in an office that he didn't hold .
So does that mean when Parliament is dissolved we don't have a Prime Minister?
I can see it all very quickly being swept under the carpet and Boris then making jokes about it. No doubt he will have his legal team burning the midnight oil and basing their argument on Boris was relying on assistants and researchers to give him information so he was just reciting it. I hope it drags out and scuppers his chances of becoming PM because he's an idiot. I don't know why he's so popular.
Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 29th May 2019, 8:55 PMI can see it all very quickly being swept under the carpet and Boris then making jokes about it. No doubt he will have his legal team burning the midnight oil and basing their argument on Boris was relying on assistants and researchers to give him information so he was just reciting it. I hope it drags out and scuppers his chances of becoming PM because he's an idiot. I don't know why he's so popular.
YES! HE'S A LYING TURD.
Quote: Paul Wimsett @ 29th May 2019, 8:35 PMSo does that mean when Parliament is dissolved we don't have a Prime Minister?
No. Parliament and Government are two separate institutions. The role of minister & Prime Minister is independent of the role of MP. MPs cease to be MPs when Parliament is dissolved but the Government does not cease to govern (although...) Government ministers remain in charge of their departments.
The time between the announcement of a General Election and the result being announced is called "purdah". It mainly affects the actions of the Civil Service.
(I speak as a retired civil servant)
Will anyone on the Remain side also be charged with making up all sorts of bare faced lies and bullshit?
Maybe start with that Canadian prick running the Bank of England