[Twosugars]

Scotland Yard is assessing two allegations of electoral fraud after claims the Tories offered peerages to senior Brexit party figures to persuade them to stand down in the general election.

The Labour peer Lord Falconer has written to the Metropolitan police commissioner and director of public prosecutions calling for an investigation into what he said were “exceptionally serious allegations”.

In a letter to Cressida Dick and Max Hill QC he referred to Nigel Farage’s claim that he and eight other senior figures within the Brexit party were offered peerages and said they should be investigated by police as a matter of urgency order to maintain public confidence in the integrity of the election.

The Met said: “The MPS [Metropolitan Police Service] has received two allegations of electoral fraud and malpractice in relation to the 2019 general election. The MPS special inquiry team is responsible for investigating all such criminal allegations. Both allegations are currently being assessed.

“The MPS will not be providing comment about individual cases.”

Farage has claimed he has repeatedly been offered a seat in the House of Lords in an attempt to persuade him to “go quietly”.

He said that when that failed, people working “deep inside No 10” had tried to bypass him, going directly to senior Brexit party figures and suggesting eight of them could be made peers if they could persuade him to withdraw more of his candidates.

Boris Johnson has acknowledged that there may have been “conversations” between senior Tories and people in the Brexit party but flatly denied there had been any offers of peerages, saying that is “just not the way we operate”.

The Labour chairman, Ian Lavery said: “If what Nigel Farage suggests is true, that Brexit party members have been approached by senior Conservatives asking to step down with the result being peerages, what state of affairs is our politics in? It’s an absolute outrage.

“This could be political corruption of the highest order and in addition to that it could be seen as criminal activity. This cannot be accepted. There should be undoubtedly an investigation into the situation.”

In his letter, the former Lord Chancellor, said: “I believe these allegations raise serious questions about the integrity of the upcoming general election, and in particular whether senior individuals at CCHQ [Conservative campaign headquarters] or No 10 have breached two sections of the Representation of the People Act 1983.”

He then cites the parts of the act that refer to “bribery” and “corruptly” inducing or procuring someone to withdraw as a candidate at an election.

Commenting on the letter on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Michael Gove said: “I’ve got great respect for Charlie Falconer but I think that this sounds pretty nonsensical to me.”

The row came amid growing pressure on Farage, in the run-up to the close of nominations on Thursday, to stand down Brexit party candidates in all but a few dozen constituencies to avoid splitting the pro-leave vote.

The Brexit party leader had already said they would not contest the 317 seats that the Conservatives won in the 2017 election.

Suspicions that individual Brexit party candidates were coming under pressure to stand aside were heightened after the prospective candidate for Dudley North announced he would not be running for fear of enabling a Labour victory..

Falconer’s letter also mentions Ann Widdecombe, the former Tory MP now standing for the Brexit party in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport. She said she was offered a role in the Brexit negotiations if she stepped aside.

Pressed on Widdecombe’s claim, Gove said: “I haven’t spoken to Ann and I don’t know anyone who has spoken to Ann for months now.”

Commenting on whether he asked anyone in the Conservative party if the claims were true, Gove said: “I think the prime minister has been very clear that we’re not engaging in pacts, negotiations – the decision for the Brexit party to stand down was, as I understand it, a unilateral decision that was taken because the leadership of the Brexit party recognised that if they stood in a range of seats they would imperil the chance of a Conservative majority government.”

Brexit party MEP Ben Habib rebuffed the Tory denials. “They’re being economical with the truth for sure,” he told Sky. “Absolutely. It has been going on. Without a shadow of a doubt.”

Meanwhile, the SNP has demanded a Cabinet Office probe into the allegations. Tommy Sheppard, the party’s candidate for Edinburgh East and its Cabinet Office spokesman, said the allegations “go to the heart of the abuse of the peerage system”.

“While the SNP campaign every day to outline our positive vision for Scotland, the Westminster parties seem more consumed with dodgy backroom deals to rig the system in their own favour,” he said. “This is unacceptable.”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics...o-brexit-party

[Kizzy]

Good. . Come on out with this evidence, lets see it BEFORE the election!!