The judge at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court ruled that Johnson, the former foreign secretary and ex-London mayor, must answer a private summons alleging he had committed three offences of misconduct in a public office.
350 MILLION POUNDS PER WEEK
These relate to claims that Johnson made in the run-up to and aftermath of the 2016 European Union referendum when he was one of the leading campaigners for Britain to leave the bloc. Britons voted by 52-48% to leave.
“During both time periods outlined above, the (proposed) defendant repeatedly lied and misled the British public as to the cost of EU membership, expressly stating, endorsing or inferring that the cost of EU membership was 350 million pounds ($442 million) per week,” the application against Johnson said.
In submissions to the court, Johnson’s lawyers said the application was a stunt, brought for purely political purposes.
“It is submitted that the facts alleged by the applicant do not come close to establishing a qualifying breach of duty,” his lawyer argued. “None of the acts complained of took place in the course of Mr Johnson’s direct parliamentary or mayoral duties, but in the course of political campaigning.”