Facebook yesterday banned several far right extremist groups (HERE) and leaders 'because those involved had proclaimed a 'violent or hateful mission' and were 'Individuals and organisations who spread hate'. These included The English Defence League, Britain First and the BNP as well as The National Front.
Coincidentally, this followed a programme on Channel 4 the previous night (HERE) reporting on internal emails they have seen where Leave.eu apparently covered up how they had targeted exactly these same groups from the very start of their campaign for the 2016 referendum. Aaron Banks denied explicitly they had done so. Strangely, the BBC had the story back in 2016 but under pressure from Banks, they decided not to run it. The BBC man at the time who helped to quash the story was Robbie Gibb, now Director of Communications in Downing Street. It certainly makes you think doesn't it.
There has been a lot of wrongdoing during the leave campaign but while what Leave.eu did in winding up these extremists wasn't actually illegal, it marked something far worse in my opinion that will take generations to put right.
The Channel 4 item was aired just a day after they showed another piece (HERE) how Leave.eu had appeared to show staged footage of migrants attacking women in London and others arriving illegally in this country, which they then pumped out via Facebook to these far-right groups.
Aaron Banks and Leave.eu, as we know, have been at the centre of a lot of bad stuff, some possibly criminal, much of it illegal and most of it immoral in my opinion. But it's very hard to keep up with all the misconduct and malpractice that went on so I have made a list of stuff (below) to try and keep track of it all. I should say in fairness remain activists were not entirely without blame although their transgressions were far fewer, usually technical, and only involved the Electoral Commission as far as I can see. Remain hasn't been charged (again as far as I can see) with any offences by the Information Commissioners Office for data mis-use or the National Crime Agency and they don't have any mysterious donations to be explained.
The Electoral Commission publishes lists of cases they investigate, not all down to the Referendum, and you can see the latest list (HERE).
So, to start with:Coincidentally, this followed a programme on Channel 4 the previous night (HERE) reporting on internal emails they have seen where Leave.eu apparently covered up how they had targeted exactly these same groups from the very start of their campaign for the 2016 referendum. Aaron Banks denied explicitly they had done so. Strangely, the BBC had the story back in 2016 but under pressure from Banks, they decided not to run it. The BBC man at the time who helped to quash the story was Robbie Gibb, now Director of Communications in Downing Street. It certainly makes you think doesn't it.
There has been a lot of wrongdoing during the leave campaign but while what Leave.eu did in winding up these extremists wasn't actually illegal, it marked something far worse in my opinion that will take generations to put right.
The Channel 4 item was aired just a day after they showed another piece (HERE) how Leave.eu had appeared to show staged footage of migrants attacking women in London and others arriving illegally in this country, which they then pumped out via Facebook to these far-right groups.
Aaron Banks and Leave.eu, as we know, have been at the centre of a lot of bad stuff, some possibly criminal, much of it illegal and most of it immoral in my opinion. But it's very hard to keep up with all the misconduct and malpractice that went on so I have made a list of stuff (below) to try and keep track of it all. I should say in fairness remain activists were not entirely without blame although their transgressions were far fewer, usually technical, and only involved the Electoral Commission as far as I can see. Remain hasn't been charged (again as far as I can see) with any offences by the Information Commissioners Office for data mis-use or the National Crime Agency and they don't have any mysterious donations to be explained.
The Electoral Commission publishes lists of cases they investigate, not all down to the Referendum, and you can see the latest list (HERE).
ELECTORAL COMMISSION FINES/PENALTIES
May 2016
1.The Electoral Commission has struck off 11 pro-Brexit campaign groups from their official registered of EU Referendum campaigners after a Daily Telegraph analysis raised concerns about how the Grassroots Out Movement intended to spend millions in campaign donations.
In a statement, the Commission said that the 11 Grassroots Out or “GO” groups had been removed from the official register of campaign groups after “they were found not to meet the registration requirements” following a review.
The all apparently shared a business address with Aaron Banks
October 2016
2. The Electoral Commission has fined two EU referendum campaigners, Mr Roger Gabb and Lady Sue Inkin, £1,000 each for failing to include an imprint on newspaper advertisements they placed during the regulated period (15 April to 23 June) for the referendum. It is an offence not to include an imprint on printed campaign material that is made available to the public during the regulated period.
In both cases the campaigners placed advertisements in local newspapers arguing support of a vote to leave the EU. Neither campaigner included their name and address in their advert, meaning that voters could not identify its promoter.
June 2017
3. Millionaire Butlins owner Peter Harris has been given the Electoral Commission's biggest financial penalty for breaking spending return rules during the EU referendum. He was fined £12,000 for failing to submit returns for pro-Brexit adverts he ran during last year's poll.
Mr Harris spent more than £400,000 on newspaper ads featuring a British bulldog in a Union flag tie. The commission said the ex-racehorse trainer has since paid the fine. It said the £12,000 fine was 'the highest imposed' in relation to spending at the EU referendum 'and reflects the significant sums spent by Mr Harris'.
July 2017
4. Henry Meakin was fined £1500 for submitting a late return.
5. Brexit campaign group Vote Leave has been fined £61,000 and referred to the police after an Electoral Commission probe said it broke electoral law. The watchdog said it exceeded its £7m spending limit by funnelling £675,315 through pro-Brexit youth group BeLeave.
6. The founder of BeLeave, Darren Grimes, has been fined £20,000 and referred to the police, along with Vote Leave official David Halsall.
August 2017
7. Left Leave fined £500 (see EC Case list) for failure to deliver campaign expenditure return for the EU Referendum as a permitted participant at the EU Referendum by the due date
October 2017
8. Campaign for an Independent England fined £1000 (see EC Case List) for failure to deliver declaration of no spending as a permitted participant at the EU Referendum by the due date.
December 2017
9. Fishing for Leave fined £250 (see EC Case list) for failure to deliver an accurate spending return for EU Referendum, and paymnet of an invoice received late.
June 2018
10. Global Britain fined £1500 (see EC Case list) for inaccurate pre-poll and post-poll donations reporting.
August 2018
11. Veterans for Britain fined £250 (see EC Case list) for failure to deliver an accurate spending return for EU referendum.
March 2019
12. Pro-Brexit campaign group Labour Leave fined £9,000 for failing to accurately declare donations before and after the 2016 referendum. The group, which was led by businessman John Mills, did not properly register non-cash donations worth £10,000 relating to the use of office space.
The Electoral Commission said there had been a "disappointing lack of transparency" in the group's finances. Labour Leave blamed what it said had been an "administrative error".
INFORMATION COMMISSIONERS OFFICE
1. A firm which sent more than 500,000 text messages urging people to back its Brexit campaign has been fined by a watchdog. Better for the Country Ltd, best known for campaigning under the name Leave.EU, broke the law by not having consent of the people it sent text messages to, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said. The firm, which obtained the list of phone numbers from a third party supplier, was fined £50,000 for the breach.
July 2018
2. The Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal was a major political scandal in early 2018 when it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica had harvested the personal data of millions of people's Facebook profiles without their consent and used it for political purposes. It has been described as a watershed moment in the public understanding of personal data and precipitated a massive fall in Facebook's stock price and calls for tighter regulation of tech companies' use of data.
In early July 2018, the United Kingdom's Information Commissioner's Office announced it intended to fine Facebook £500,000 ($663,000) over the data scandal, saying Facebook "contravened the law by failing to safeguard people's information"
Feb 2019
3. The information commissioner has launched an audit into Leave.EU and the insurance company owned by the campaign’s key financial backer, Arron Banks, after fining the organisations a total of £120,000 for data protection violations during the EU referendum campaign.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced in November that it intended to fine the two companies, which it determined were closely linked, with “ineffective” systems for segregating the data of insurance customers from that of political subscribers.
4. Leave.EU was fined £15,000 for using Eldon Insurance customers’ details unlawfully to send almost 300,000 political marketing messages, and a further £45,000 for its part in sending an Eldon marketing campaign to political subscribers. Eldon was fined £60,000 for the latter violation.
March 2019
5. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Vote Leave Limited £40,000 for sending out thousands of unsolicited text messages in the run up to the 2016 EU referendum. An ICO investigation found that Vote Leave sent 196,154 text messages promoting the aims of the Leave campaign with the majority containing a link to its website.
The investigation also found that Vote Leave was unable to provide evidence that the people who received the messages had given their consent; a key requirement of electronic marketing law.
MYSTERIOUS CAMPAIGN FUNDING
1. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) accepted a further £13,000 donation from a pro-Brexit group in the months after the EU referendum, documents have confirmed. The Constitutional Research Council (CRC) had previously donated £435,000 to the DUP during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign.The bulk of the £435,000 was spent by the DUP on pro-Brexit advertising.
The DUP said it has complied with electoral law at all times.
The party did not comment on how it spent the £13,000 donation but said it used donations to "further the cause of unionism at home and abroad".The details on the latest CRC donation are contained in internal Electoral Commission documents published by the campaign group the Good Law Project.
The CRC is thought to be a group of pro-union business people chaired by Richard Cook, a former vice chairman of the Scottish Conservatives.
NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY
1. The NCA has initiated an investigation concerning the entities Better for the Country (BFTC) and Leave.EU; as well as Arron Banks, Elizabeth Bilney and other individuals. This follows our acceptance of a referral of material from the Electoral Commission.
The investigation relates to suspected electoral law offences covered by that referral, as well as any associated offences. While electoral law offences would not routinely fall within the NCA’s remit, the nature of the necessary inquiries and the potential for offences to have been committed other than under electoral law lead them to consider an NCA investigation appropriate in this instance.
And they say we should respect the 'democratic' decision of the people.
According to The Venice Commission (EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW) and their Code of Good Practice on Referendums (adopted by the Council for Democratic Elections at its 19th meeting in Venice, 16 December 2006) in paragraph 24 page 20 (HERE):
National rules on both public and private funding of political parties and election campaigns must be applicable to referendum campaigns. As in the case of elections, funding must be transparent, particularly when it comes to campaign accounts. In the event of a failure to abide by the statutory requirements, for instance if the cap on spending is exceeded by a significant margin, the vote may be annulled. It should be pointed out that the principle of equality of opportunity applies to public funding; equality should be ensured between a proposal’s supporters and opponents.
We can't annul the result now, it's far too late. But we can have a confirmatory vote. We MUST have a confirmatory vote.
And they say we should respect the 'democratic' decision of the people.
According to The Venice Commission (EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW) and their Code of Good Practice on Referendums (adopted by the Council for Democratic Elections at its 19th meeting in Venice, 16 December 2006) in paragraph 24 page 20 (HERE):
National rules on both public and private funding of political parties and election campaigns must be applicable to referendum campaigns. As in the case of elections, funding must be transparent, particularly when it comes to campaign accounts. In the event of a failure to abide by the statutory requirements, for instance if the cap on spending is exceeded by a significant margin, the vote may be annulled. It should be pointed out that the principle of equality of opportunity applies to public funding; equality should be ensured between a proposal’s supporters and opponents.
We can't annul the result now, it's far too late. But we can have a confirmatory vote. We MUST have a confirmatory vote.
