Boris Johnson - Indictment for Misconduct in Public Office

weaviemx5

It has passed all hurdles and is progressing to the Crown Court. Whilst odds of conviction are very low - given the high bar for misconduct in public office cases - it has gone all the way through the system. In theory the Director of Public Prosecutions could intervene but I suspect not in this case.

EarthRod

So, do you think the judge is misunderstanding the issue, or Sonic?  

I’m just trying to work out what you mean because you said, “he doesn’t get..” but the Judge is a woman, yet you agree with Sonic’s post?

Ruperts slippers

It seems, on the surface, the case is trivial and not worthy of a legal court - but it had passed the tests.

Misconduct whilst in public high office? Hmmmmm.

Mr Teflon and his legal team might have a problem in what comes to light and what sticks.

There is more to this than meets the eye.

Sonic67

Even the oft quote Full-fact site isn't sure on the figures.

Different figures from different sources
The Treasury's European Union Finances release provides the best figures for the UK’s contributions to the EU budget, according to the ONS.

The Treasury and ONS both publish figures on the subject, but they're slightly different. The ONS also publishes other figures on contributions to EU institutions which don't include all our payments or receipts, which complicates matters.

The ONS figures ultimately come from the Treasury, and the numbers aren't the same because they categorise and account for the payments differently.

The European Commission is still another source of information which shows lower contributions.

Sooo, how is it feasible to bring a case to court when it is not possible to decide on which figures to use, organisations who present this information have different figures. There is no agreed standard on which the base the case.
What is the judiciary going to do, enforce the data collectors to present the accountancy figures in a rigid manner so as not to upset the electorate in future campaigns. Ultimately politicians are sales people, selling ideas, should they be more careful, probably, this case just highlights how precarious democracy actually is, the alternative is chaos.

On a side note the campaign lasted for ten weeks, is it really feasible to think that the decision to vote leave or remain occurred during this period. I think not, people had multiple reasons for deciding on which way to vote depending on how they felt they benefitted from membership to the EU. There wasn't even cross party consensus.
What the election showed, is the dualism between genuine conservatism tradition vs post modern liberalism, clearly highlighted, even parties claiming to be conservative in nature were no longer so. Its interesting to watch as a political student.
Open borders vs closed borders, individual national sovereignty vs one unified sovereignty, multi variant reasons for the electorate which go deep within the psyche.

weaviemx5

I understand the issue. It's being tested in a court to see whether it was "misconduct."

Sonic67

It wasn’t a dig at you, I was just trying to understand BG’s posts.

weaviemx5

It's a private prosecution for a serious offence. It hasn't been brought by the CPS. Just because it's going to court doesn't mean guilt. Any more than any other private prosecution does.