Brexitwatch: it's not just Theresa May. Are the police also running down the clock?

Last May - yes, 9 months ago, the police were given evidence of widespread law-breaking by the Leave Campaign in the 2016 referendum. In October, I wrote to the Metropolitan Police asking why they had taken no action (see my post of 15 October 2018). The Met replied:

The electoral commission has made referrals to the MPS. The special Enquiry Team are assessing a number of documents in order to make an informed decision as to whether a criminal investigation is required.

Since then another four precious months have elapsed and it is now just six weeks before we are due to leave the EU. A good reason, you might think, for the Met to get its skates on. Instead - silence. So I have written to them again (see my post of 9 Feb). On 9 Feb, I got a reply saying:

Currently The document [sic] are being assessed by specialist investigators, supported with advice from the Crown Prosecution Service, in order to make an informed decision as to whether a criminal investigation is required.

Anyone who didn't know better might conclude the Met had done absolutely nothing and was just waiting for 29 March in the hope that if there was a criminal conspirancy, the criminals concerned would have safely achieved their objective, with their crime having paid, long before any 'investigation' got underway.

Then perhaps somebody at the Met spotted that they might not be creating the right impression, because on 11 February I got another reply, which seems to be a longer-winded way of saying the same thing: after 9 months and with Brexit six weeks away, the police STILL have not decided whether to mount an investigation:

The Electoral Commission has made two referrals to the MPS in relation to the EU Referendum regarding potential criminal offences under section 123(4) Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.  The first referral was received on 11 May 2019 and concerns Leave.EU, the second referral was received on 17 July 2018 and concerns Vote Leave and BeLeave.

A referral from the Electoral Commission does not automatically mean a criminal offence has been committed, it is the role of the MPS to decide whether there is evidence of a criminal offence that requires investigations.

There has been reporting that the MPS enquiries have made no progress, inferring this was due to ‘political sensitivities’.  This is not the case.  Having received over 2,000 documents, it is absolutely imperative we assess the evidential material that is available in order to make an informed decision as to whether there are matters that require a criminal investigation by the MPS.

We will not provide a running commentary of how we are progressing our enquiries however as with previous referrals form the Electoral Commission, the MPS will make public the outcome of our assessment.

Brexitwatch: time to contact the Met again

Could all the brinkmanship about no deal and the unicorn amendments from Tory MPs just be a smokescreen, designed to make us forget that the referendum result, which these days is the only justification offered for Brexit, was procured by lying, cheating and law-breaking?

Back in October (see my post of 15 October 2018) I contacted the Metropolitan Police to find out why they had done nothing about law-breaking by the Leave side, even though the evidence had been submitted to them in May (now 9 months ago). On 16 October, they sent me this reply:

The electoral commission has made referrals to the MPS. The special Enquiry Team are assessing a number of documents in order to make an informed decision as to whether a criminal investigation is required.

If this 'assessment' has made any progress over the last four months, it is a closely guarded secret, so I have just written to the Met again:

It is nine months now since you were presented with clear evidence of widespread illegal activity by the Leave Campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum. Four months ago I asked why so little progress had been made, and you told me on October 16, 2018: 'The electoral commission has made referrals to the MPS. The special Enquiry Team are assessing a number of documents in order to make an informed decision as to whether a criminal investigation is required.'

So could you now tell me:

1. Have you now finished assessing the documents? If not, why not?

2. Have you now started your criminal investigation? If not, why not? If you have, when will it be concluded?

3. Is it correct that your plan is to spin out any 'investigation' beyond the date when the UK leaves the EU so that if there was a criminal conspiracy, it will have reached a successful conclusion before the police take any meaningful action and that thus you can avoid upsetting the government in view of the 'political sensitivities' you talked about?

I look forward to hearing from you as a matter of urgency.

Brexitwatch: a reply (sort of) from the Met Police

On Monday, I blogged about the complaint I had sent to the Metropolitan Police regarding its apparent dilatoriness in investigating evidence of criminality by the Leave campaign during the EU referendum.

Below is the reply I have received. As with so many things concerned with Brexit, it raises more questions than it answers. Now considering my next move:

The electoral commission has made referrals to the MPS. The special Enquiry Team are assessing a number of documents in order to make an informed decision as to whether a criminal investigation is required.

Brexitwatch: the police dog that didn't bark in the night (or day)

In the sound and fury signifying nothing of Theresa May's government's incompetent 'negotiation' of Brexit, it is easy to forget that the only reason the UK is leaving the EU is because of a referendum that was won illegally by the Leave Campaign. And, of course, to forget is precisely what the government and most Tory and Labour MPs want you to do.

Evidence of Leave's criminality was provided to the Metropolitan Police five months ago, but since then it seems they have done absolutely nothing. If, like me, you are not happy about this, you should complain to them at https://www.met.police.uk/contact/contact-us/contact-us-to-discuss-something-else/

This is what I sent:

For five months the Metropolitan Police has been sitting on evidence of widespread criminal activity by the Leave Campaign in the 2016 EU referendum. Apparently you are refusing to start a proper investigation because of 'political sensitivities'.

If the referendum was won by criminal means, it is hard to overestimate the importance of the crime. It is something that will damage our country for decades, possibly generations.

But the importance of your decision not to act has even wider-reaching implications. If, in future, crimes are not going to be investigated because certain politicians and/or political groups do not want them to be, then the UK has ceased to be a democracy.

I look forward to your comments on the above, and answers to the following questions:

1. When will you be starting a proper investigation?

2. Are you deliberately trying to delay the process until the UK has left the EU in the hope that this will diminish the pressure on you to investigate?

You should be aware that I will also be contacting my MP and other relevant parties about this.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Brexitwatch: get your MP to support demand for proper investigation of Leave cheating

Labour MP Ben Bradshaw has written to the Metropolitan Police and the National Crime Agency, demanding they mount a 'full and comprehensive' investigation into cheating by the Leave campaign during the EU referendum.

It is hard to overstate the importance of this. Most people now believe Brexit will damage the UK, but Tory and Labour leaderships are insisting we proceed with it because it is the 'will of the people'. Except it isn't, because the referendum was bent, as the Electoral Commission has already demonstrated.

But, as Mr Bradshaw points out, the Commission has limited powers to investigate and none to prosecute. It is, therefore, vital that the police pursue the matter vigorously. Otherwise we will be giving a green light to cheating in all future UK elections.

I am astonished and disappointed that only 31 MPs (plus 19 MEPs and Lords) have signed the letter. They do not appear to include mine - Labour's Brexit spokesperson, Sir Keir Starmer. This is what I have written to him:

Dear Sir Keir,

I do not seem to see your name among the list of MPs who have signed your colleague, Ben Bradshaw's demand for the Metropolitan Police and the NCA to investigate law-breaking by the Leave Campaign. I am very disappointed, and I urge you to add your signature  without delay.

You have admitted that Brexit has no benefits and that Labour is continuing to support it only because it is the 'will of the people'. As you know from previous emails, I have always rejected the 'will of the people' argument, but as you continue to accept it, you have an obligation to ensure that we discover to what degree the endorsement of the 'people' for Brexit was secured by a criminal conspiracy.

If Labour fails to do this, it will be giving a green light to cheating in all subsequent UK elections.

I look forward to hearing that you have signed the letter and given your support to Mr Bradshaw's efforts.

Yours sincerely,

John Withington

The Bradford City fire: was it arson?

More than 30 years since the Bradford City fire in which 56 football fans died, a dramatic new development. West Yorkshire Police has referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission over its investigation into the blaze.

This follows a meeting with Martin Fletcher, whose father, brother, uncle and grandfather, all died at Valley Parade on 11 May 1985. In his recent book, Fifty-Six: The Story of the Bradford Fire, he claimed the fire was one of nine that had happened at businesses linked with the club’s then chairman, Stafford Heginbotham.

The official inquiry had concluded the blaze was caused by a discarded cigarette setting fire to rubbish that had accumulated over years under an old timber stand. The structure was engulfed in minutes, and because doors at the back were locked, many spectators could not escape.

The police say Mr Fletcher’s book has raised ‘serious issues’, and that it is important that they are addressed.

For more on the fire, see A Disastrous History of Britain.