Appeal to be lodged in court case which could have prosecuted Boris Johnson for Brexit lies

Boris Johnson (left) and Dr Liam Fox at a Vote Leave event. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA. - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images

An appeal is set to be lodged in the court case which aimed to prosecute Boris Johnson for the mistruths told during the EU referendum campaign in 2016.

Johnson, along with several other MPs, had backed the slogan “We send the EU £350 million a week”, written on the side of a Vote Leave campaign bus prior to the 2016 EU referendum.

The case brought by Marcus Ball as a private prosecution, claimed that Johnson had misled the public while in a position of high office, both as an MP and as Mayor of London.

But after a summons was issued against the now prime minister, Johnson’s legal team managed to get the case thrown out.

Explaining the decision Lady Justice Rafferty and Justice Supperstone claimed the case was “flawed” because the art of lying “was nothing new” and that existing laws did not cover the arguments made about Brexit in the June 2016 campaign.

Boris Johnson speaks at a rally with Priti Patel and Michael Gove (right) in front of the Vote Leave bus. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA. – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images

Their report on the case said: “The problem of false statements in the course of political campaigning is not new and has not been overlooked by parliament. For at least the last 120 or so years parliament has legislated to control certain false campaign statements which it considers an illegal practice.”

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Their ruling added: “There is no precedent for any office holder being prosecuted for misconduct in public office for wilfully making or endorsing a misleading statement in and for the purposes of political campaigning.”

Now Ball is planning to appeal the decision based on legal advice he has received.

He said: “After Iraq, tuition fees and the referendum our backers have just lost it. MPs must not be permitted to knowingly and repeatedly lie to the public on television and neither can any other public office holder. It is a matter of immense public importance that we ask the Supreme Court to remedy this situation”.