Boris Johnson summonsed to face accusations of misconduct in public office

Boris Johnson will be summonsed to court to face accusations he lied during the EU referendum.

Conservative MP Boris Johnson leaves his residence in south London. Picture: AFP

Boris Johnson will be summonsed to court to answer accusations that he lied to the public during the EU referendum.

The former British foreign secretary and frontrunner to be the next prime minister must attend court for a preliminary hearing, district judge Margot Coleman ruled ­yesterday.

Marcus Ball, 29, collected more than £200,000 ($365,000) via crowdfunding to bring a private prosecution of misconduct in public office, accusing Mr Johnson of endorsing and making statements he knew to be false.

The case rests on the Vote Leave campaign’s claim that Britain sends £350 million a week to the EU, which the government could instead spend on the ­National Health Service.

In a written decision, the judge wrote: “The allegations which have been made are unproven ­accusations and I do not make any findings of fact.

“Having considered all the relevant factors, I am satisfied that this is a proper case to issue the summons as requested for the three offences as drafted. The charges are indictable only.

“This means the proposed defendant will be required to attend this court for a preliminary hearing, and the case will then be sent to the Crown Court for trial. The charges can only be dealt with in the Crown Court.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is backing Mr Johnson’s leadership campaign, criticised the decision.

“The court should not be used for obviously political purposes — it is an abuse of legal procedure,” he said. “The courts should not be politics by other means — it sets a dangerous precedent.”

In his defence against the prosecution, Mr Johnson said the application was “brought for ­political purposes” by a campaign that is “ultimately” seeking “no Brexit”.

“The application represents an attempt, for the first time in Eng­lish legal history, to employ the criminal law to regulate the ­content and quality of political ­debate.

“That is self-evidently not the function of the criminal law.”

In her ruling, the judge said she was “satisfied there is prima facie evidence of an issue to be ­determined at trial”, adding: “I do not accept the application is ­vexatious.”

Judge Coleman said: “The court is dealing with an application, dated 20th February, 2019, and received by this court on the 25th February, 2019, for a summons against the proposed defendant, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, for three offences alleging misconduct in a public ­office.”

Her ruling said although there was no obligation on the court to give written reasons why an application for a summons is granted or refused, “this is an unusual and exceptional application with a considerable public interest and it is right that full reasons are provided to the unsuccessful party”.

Meanwhile, in the British Con­servative leadership race Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is said to be losing support to Environment Secretary Michael Gove because many Tory MPs believe he is flip-flopping on a no-deal Brexit.

Mr Hunt is now saying that pursuing a policy of leaving the EU without a deal would be “political suicide” for the Tories, but he has previously said he would choose no-deal over no Brexit.

The comments infuriated Brexiteers who were considering backing him as a “safer” ­alternative to Mr Johnson and Dominic Raab.

Other Tory MPs agree that Mr Gove has been gaining ground among those who had been leaning ­towards Mr Hunt.

“Gove is the coming figure for centrist MPs who don’t want to go the whole hog and back someone like (Health Secretary) Matt Hancock,” a former cabinet minister said.

International Development Secretary Rory Stewart, who is also in the leadership race, said Mr Hunt’s ­refusal to take no-deal off the negotiating table at the same time as warning it would be political suicide was nonsensical.

THE TIMES