Leave.EU found to have cheated during the Brexit referendum and has now been referred to the Metropolitan Police for possible criminal activity

Leave.EU has been fined by the Electoral Commission for ‘multiple breaches of electoral law’ and referred to the Metropolitan Police for suspected criminal offences.

Whistleblower evidence made public by The Fair Vote Project suggests illegal coordination to facilitate overspending by Vote Leave, the type of overspending we now know for certain Leave.EU is guilty of. It appears several groups working for Leave are suspected of cheating.

Kyle Taylor, Director of The Fair Vote Project, said “Arron Banks and others involved have shown a total disregard for the laws that are meant to ensure we have a functioning democracy, something that is the bedrock of a healthy and fair society.

On top of cheating UK citizens out of a democratic vote, Banks’ utterly audacious response to the ruling shows that he feels the law doesn’t apply to him and because of his wealth he should be above it. I urge Parliament and the police to show him that no amount of money means you can escape justice.

Until the fines substantially exceed the overspend, there will always be an incentive to cheat in our elections. These fines almost seem like the cost of doing business.

Weeks ago, The Fair Vote Project published evidence suggesting cheating was happening in Vote Leave as well and with a potential overspend of £625,000.

How much cheating does there have to be before MPs do their jobs and defend our democracy? The Electoral Commission themselves said they were unable to impose a heftier fine owing to limitations on their powers but were clear to emphasise how serious the breaches made by Leave.EU are.

There is now more doubt than ever swirling around the validity of the EU Referendum result which is why we’re demanding a fair vote on our future and consequential Electoral Commission reform to make sure this never happens again.