UK Edition
Electoral Commission in row with Met police, after they are accused of failing to hand over documents
The Electoral Commission was last night locked in an extraordinary row with Scotland Yard over the watchdog's handling of its investigations into the two Leave campaigns.
The election watchdog has accused the Metropolitan Police or making "unfounded, misleading and incorrect" assertions about the way it gathered and disclosed evidence during its probe into wrongdoing during the Brexit referendum.
It came after lawyers representing Scotland Yard hit back at attempts by Europhile MPs to expedite its investigation into Leave EU and Vote Leave, claiming the Commission had failed to supply “potentially relevant” documents required in order to determine whether criminal charges could be brought.
In a letter sent to the parliamentarians, who have threatened a judicial review, the Met added the watchdog’s "approach to the gathering and disclosure of evidence" did not appear to be in line with police rules.
It also stated that the Met had asked for additional information on “a number of occasions" from the Commission, but that its request remained outstanding.
Responding last night, an Electoral Commission spokesman said that the Met had made a "number of assertions about the work of the Commission which are unfounded, misleading and incorrect.
They added: "This a startling argument, put forward as part of an organisation's defence of its record on timely investigatory work.
"It is also directly contrary to recent positive comment made by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner about collaborative working between our organisations. We are writing to her to seek urgent assurance of her position in relation to this correspondence".
In July last year, the Commission fined the Vote Leave and BeLeave campaigns after finding that they breached electoral law by incorrectly reporting joint spending on the referendum.
It found that Vote Leave passed a £680,000 gift to youth group BeLeave which, if declared correctly, would have taken the campaign’s spending over the £7 million limit.
In May, the unofficial campaign Leave.EU was also fined £70,000 for exceeding the statutory spending limit. Its chief executive, Liz Bilney, was referred to the police for investigation.
The Met confirmed last September that it had received over 2,000 documents from the Electoral Commission in relation to the breaches, but no announcement has yet been made on any possible criminal charges.
Last night it confirmed that one of its investigations was “nearing completion”.