False statements in political campaigns are “not new”, High Court judges who quashed a court summons for Boris Johnson have said.
The Conservative MP, who is tipped to become prime minister, was originally ordered to face charges of misconduct in public office over claims that the UK pays the EU £350m a week.
But the High Court overturned a summons issued by a district judge last month, after Mr Johnson’s lawyers argued the figure was a “political claim open to contradiction and debate”.
Laying out their reasons for the decision on Wednesday, Lady Justice Rafferty and Mr Justice Supperstone 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.”
But the judges said the laws did not cover arguments used in political campaigns like the 2016 EU referendum.
“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,” their ruling said.
