Banks steps back from EU Referendum challenge
A UKIP-backed group which has campaigned for the UK to vote to leave the European Union has stepped back from launching a legal challenge that could have resulted in the Referendum being put back until 23 October.
Arron Banks, chairman of Leave.EU, said although he was confident he could win any judicial review, the campaign will now concenrate its efforts on persuading the public to vote Leave on 23 June.
Leave.EU, the organisation headed by Aaron Banks, had said it would apply for a judicial review of the Electoral Commission’s decision to award lead campaign status to its rival, Vote Leave.
The decision meant that Vote Leave, along with the remain campaign Britain Stronger in Europe, will be allowed to spend up to £7m on campaigning, receive a free distribution of information to voters and be able to make referendum campaign broadcasts.
However, Banks has taken a step back. In a statement he said: ““I have spent a lot of time and so much money, alongside many others, over the past few months and years making sure this referendum happened, and more than anything we wanted to make sure it happened fairly. We have raised well over £9 million and reached millions of people around this country.
Legal challenge could delay EU referendum vote for months
“What is clear now is that if we were to pursue a judicial review, according to legal experts, we would win. But this is a time to take a step back from the matter, and after consulting with leading campaigners on this issue, including UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage – we have decided to show the public how this process was stitched up, but not to pursue the judicial review any further.
“It is time to turn our collective guns on the real opponents in this campaign: those who are repeatedly trying to scare the British public into thinking that Britain is too small and insignificant to be an independent nation engaged with the whole world, not just one corner of it. We will be pursuing this campaign with vigour – and we’ll have some fun with it along the way”.
