3rd June 2017
During the Question Time Leaders’ Debate, broadcast live on BBC One last night from the City of York, we are alleging that Prime Minister Theresa May committed a criminal offence in the form of a false statement, with regard to the conduct of an opponent, provided in response to the above question, which she knew to be false and which breached the terms of the Representation of the People Act 1983.
The offending statement occurred 17 minutes and 11 seconds into the broadcast. Here is the relevant excerpt, starting a few seconds into the clip:
As the statement did not provide an answer to the gentleman’s question, and appeared to be opportunistically “crowbarred in”, we believe this incident to be premeditated and by the very nature of its content, designed to adversely impact upon the electoral prospects of the Labour Party and by extension all its candidates for the forthcoming general election.
This is extremely serious given that it was a live broadcast watched by millions of people, many of whom will not yet have made up their minds on where to cast their vote on 8th June 2017. When judged against the information provided below i.e. excerpt of Section 106, Sub-section 1 of the Representation of the People’s Act 1983, we believe the statement to represent a clear breach.
The terms of the Representation of the People Act are very clear and advice has been issued and made available to all contesting parties by the Electoral Commission, the regulatory body of ballots and elections within the UK.
We have reported this incident to the Metropolitan Police today (see below) because we believe nobody is above the law of the land and the Prime Minister needs to be held accountable for her actions.
Relevant Excerpt from The Representation of the People’s Act 1983
We follow politics closely, have done for some years, and do not believe Diane Abbott has ever made any statements indicating that she wants to wipe the records of criminals and terrorists from the DNA Database.
Further reading:
Get The Innocent off the DNA Database by Diane Abbott
Hansard Online – Diane Abbott Contributions
Metropolitan Police reference number: BCA-1932-17-00
Update
Some relevant and up-to-date reading on this subject, kindly forwarded this evening by James Turner QC – @JamesTurner37 – on Twitter:
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Thank you for challenging this outrageous and inaccurate comment.
Would the same censure apply to Tory videos that peddle unambiguous lies, for instance the editing of a video of Jeremy Corbyn to make it seem as though he states he supports terrorism?
I’m not a lawyer, but deliberate misrepresentation Corbyn in those videos certainly seems to fall under the purview of the phrase “makes or publishes any false statement or fact.”
Thanks David. Can you be more specific please? Which part?
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Sounds like she had that comment ready to use just in case anyone mentioned Diane Abbot – not in context ? Oh who cares as long as she gets to slag her off, even if it’s not (a) answering the guy’s question or (b) correct. I loathe that woman more every time she opens her gub 😫
I reckon the latest Tory ad which edited to misrepresent Corbyn’s views on the IRA is also in breach. How did you go about making the complaint. Did you go to your local police?
I went to the Metropolitan Police, filling in their online crime reporting form, only to realise later that the alleged crime occurred in York – which is were the venue was located.
On the advice of The Met, I have since lodged the same crime report with North Yorkshire police.
[Update – 8th June 2017]
North Yorkshire Police have acknowledged receipt, however, the Metropolitan Police’s Special Enquiry Unit have now assumed primacy over this. Further details here
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