Boris Johnson lied and engaged in criminal conduct when he repeatedly claimed during the 2016 EU referendum that the UK sent £350m a week to Brussels, lawyers for a crowdfunded private prosecution of the MP have told a court. The case concerned the “now infamous claim” by Johnson about the £350m, Lewis Power QC told Westminster magistrates court, and was not about preventing or delaying Brexit. The conduct of the proposed defendant, Boris Johnson, was both irresponsible and dishonest. He said Johnson had repeatedly misrepresented the amount the UK sent to the EU a week by grossly inflating the figure. During the referendum campaign, the UK’s statistics watchdog delivered a public rebuke to the Vote Leave campaign for continuing to claim that EU membership cost the UK £350m a week.

Source: The Guardian May 23, 2019 10:35 UTC