This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/24/eu-referendum-spending-official-campaigns-investigation-opens-electoral-commission

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
EU referendum campaign spending investigation opens DUP spent £282,000 on Brexit ad that did not run in Northern Ireland
(35 minutes later)
The Electoral Commission has opened investigations into the spending of both official campaigns in the EU referendum and is looking into the returns of more than half a dozen other organisations. The Democratic Unionist party spent £282,000 on a pro-Brexit newspaper ad that did not run in Northern Ireland, according to documents released by the Electoral Commission.
Announcing details on Friday of the outlay before the vote last June by the 17 registered campaigns, which spent £250,000 or more, the elections watchdog said £27m was spent overall, £16m by remain groups and £11m by leave organisations and individuals. The advertising cover wrap appeared in the Metro elsewhere in the UK as part of a total DUP spend on the EU referendum campaign of £425,000, more than seven times the party’s declared expenditure of £58,183 on the 2015 general election.
Under a loophole in funding rules dating back to the Troubles, which allows Northern Irish political parties to accept anonymous donations, the identity of the donors to the DUP campaign had not been made public.
But after growing pressure to name the source of the money, the DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson revealed on Friday that the pro-union Constitutional Research Council (CRC) had donated money.
It came hours before the commission published the expenditure of organisations and individuals that had spent more than £250,000 during the campaign.
The size of the DUP campaign spend has prompted renewed concerns about the loophole. Critics have also questioned how the party raised such a large campaign fund. One warned that Northern Ireland was being used by major political donors as an “offshore secrecy haven”.
Donaldson described the CRC, chaired by the former vice-chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party Richard Cook, as a “group of businessmen that promotes pro-union politics”.
“I believe it is a reputable organisation and we are very pleased to have received that donation for our national campaign,” he told the Guardian.
In keeping with the rest of the UK, Northern Irish parties have to report donations of more than £7,500 to the commission. But while political parties in Northern Ireland are required to report their donations, the commission cannot publish this information other than for the purposes of civil or criminal proceedings. The exemption for Northern Irish parties was designed to protect donors from possible threats or intimidation.
Friends of the Earth in Northern Ireland started a campaign for party donor transparency five years ago.
In response to the revelations, it said: “We thought dark money was trickling through our political system, but now we know it is flowing like a torrent.”
James Orr, the environmental group’s director in Northern Ireland, said: “There are implications for the entire UK when even a small devolved country tolerates secret donations to political parties. This funding could be the tip of the iceberg.
“We have been warning everyone in the UK that the unjustifiable special status of Northern Ireland would eventually lead to a situation where major political spending could use Northern Ireland as an offshore secrecy haven.
The Alliance party, which pushed through legislation in the House of Commons three years ago that should eventually reveal all donors of more than £7,500 to Northern Irish parties, challenged the DUP to voluntarily name their “mystery” benefactors during the EU referendum campaign last year.
Meanwhile, the commission has opened investigations into the spending of both official campaigns in the EU referendum and is looking into the returns of more than half a dozen other organisations.
The elections watchdog said £27m was spent overall, £16m by remain groups and £11m by leave organisations and individuals.
Investigations have begun into the official lead campaigns on both sides, Britain Stronger in Europe and Vote Leave, which each registered total expenditures of more than £6.7m, the commission said.Investigations have begun into the official lead campaigns on both sides, Britain Stronger in Europe and Vote Leave, which each registered total expenditures of more than £6.7m, the commission said.
The campaigns had seemingly not provided all the invoices and receipts required to support their returns, with some other details also missing, the commission said.The campaigns had seemingly not provided all the invoices and receipts required to support their returns, with some other details also missing, the commission said.
The Liberal Democrats, who registered a spend of £2.2m for remain, are also being investigated over similar issues.The Liberal Democrats, who registered a spend of £2.2m for remain, are also being investigated over similar issues.
Another inquiry has been opened into Peter Harris, the Brexit-supporting owner of Bourne Leisure, which owns Butlins, who spent £421,000 on campaigning, but delivered his spending return late and without the required audit report.
The commission, which has legal powers under the 2000 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act, said it was not yet known whether any offences had been committed.The commission, which has legal powers under the 2000 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act, said it was not yet known whether any offences had been committed.
It is also looking into the spending of six other campaigns, including Labour and Ukip, which submitted returns with discrepancies over how they reported some expenditures, the commission said.It is also looking into the spending of six other campaigns, including Labour and Ukip, which submitted returns with discrepancies over how they reported some expenditures, the commission said.
Another is the pro-remain European Movement, which declared a total spend of £329,000, but supplied payment details for £290,000.
Bob Posner, the commission’s director of political finance and regulation, said it was disappointing that both lead campaigns “appear to have not fully reported all their spending as they should have”.
“Missing spending details undermine transparency and make the returns harder for the public to understand. Where it appears campaigners have not fulfilled their legal obligations, we have begun and will continue to take action to deal with this,” he said.
The spending returns showed the campaign was the most well-funded referendum in British history, Posner said. “Voters must be given an opportunity to see what campaigners at last year’s historic referendum spent their money on in order to secure votes,” he added.
Campaigns that spent more than £250,000 were required to submit an independently audited spending return to the commission by 23 December 2016. The spending of those that reported totals of less than £250,000 was published last November.
The total spend reported by all registered campaigners was more than £32m, the commission said.
An obscure Canadian political advertising company was by far the biggest beneficiary of campaign spending, with leave supporters buying almost £3.5m of targeted website and social media ads.
Vote Leave spent almost £2.7m with Aggregate IQ, and paid a further £725,000 for ads from the company that were bought by Veterans for Britain and the campaigner Darren Grimes. Grimes spent another £50,000 donated by an individual from Vote Leave.
The money it donated to Grimes and Veterans for Britain did not count towards Vote Leave’s £7m spending cap because the commission did not deem the spending to have been coordinated.
Dominic Cummings, the director of Vote Leave, was quoted on Aggregate IQ’s website as saying: “Without a doubt, the Vote Leave campaign owes a great deal of its success to the work of Aggregate IQ. We couldn’t have done it without them.”
Vote Leave said it used highly targeted digital advertising far more effectively than remain campaigners.
Remain: £16,152,899Remain: £16,152,899
The In Campaign Ltd (Britain Stronger in Europe) - £6,767,584The In Campaign Ltd (Britain Stronger in Europe) - £6,767,584
Labour party – £4,845,733Labour party – £4,845,733
Liberal Democrats – £2,225,058Liberal Democrats – £2,225,058
Conservatives In Ltd – £658,431Conservatives In Ltd – £658,431
Virgin Management Ltd – £488,101Virgin Management Ltd – £488,101
Unison - £461,084Unison - £461,084
Best For Our Future Ltd - £409,438Best For Our Future Ltd - £409,438
European Movement of the UK Ltd - £297,470European Movement of the UK Ltd - £297,470
Leave: £11,534,426Leave: £11,534,426
Vote Leave Ltd – £6,789,892Vote Leave Ltd – £6,789,892
Ukip – £1,354,393Ukip – £1,354,393
Leave.EU Group Ltd – £693,022Leave.EU Group Ltd – £693,022
Brexit Express – £630,236Brexit Express – £630,236
Labour Leave Ltd – £494,897Labour Leave Ltd – £494,897
Democratic Unionist party – £425,622Democratic Unionist party – £425,622
Peter Harris – £421,433Peter Harris – £421,433
Democracy Movement – £421,308Democracy Movement – £421,308
WAGTV Ltd – £303,623WAGTV Ltd – £303,623
Total: £27,687,325Total: £27,687,325