Remain supporters are now taking BoJo to court for his fairly reasonable bus based EU funding claim. This looks like a nuisance prosecution rather than a serious attempt to establish a precedent. They would go for something else if it was a serious attempt to stop political fibs. Osbornes half a million unemployed by the summer claim is a much easier target.
OK it’s probably broadly malicious. But they seem ready to blow up to half a million on it, just to waste BoJos time and presumable some Leave money.
Maybe it’s interesting to estimate what the bill Remain have run up on these collective prosecutions or persecutions is so far. This is a scratch list based on a bit or research, so I doubt it’s complete. It doesn’t claim to be so, there are after all an awful lot of them:
BoJo is going to be minimum £250k. That seems to be the base cost for getting something into court with lawyers all paid up. Might be higher, sore reports said over £400k was raised.
Jolyun Maughan styled as the “Good Law Project” has a steady stream on legal cases funded:
Vs Vote Leave and the EC on spending rules
Trying to derail A50 in Scotland
– which subsequently went to appeal at the Supreme Court
– and then the ECJ
Trying to derail A50 in Ireland
Seeking a judicial Review against David Davis for information disclosure
On medical emergency rules
Gina Miller case
The Electoral Commission will be up at about £1 million on Grimes by the time the £350k appeal is heard, plus over £2mil odd spent on Vote Leave. (That’s an estimate, based on Vote Leaves declared defence costs).
The DCMS probably dropped a few quid chasing Leave.EU and Arron Banks
The legal bill to overturn the result has got to be at least knocking on the door of half the total of all of the spending of all of the various Leave campaigns on the entire actual referendum. Possibly getting closer to the full Leave spend when you add up all the peripherals.
At which point accusations of dark money, the deep state, and big shady donors paying to get their way, are obviously entirely inappropriate comments.