Bid to prosecute Boris Johnson gains financial backers

Private prosecutor Marcus J Ball has spent the last two years building evidence against the former foreign secretary in a bid to prove he knowingly mislead the public during the Brexit referendum.

He believes Johnson committed misconduct in public office over claims the United Kingdom sends £350 million a week to the European Union.

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Mr Ball is planning to present the courts with his initial case in the coming weeks. The 28-year-old is working with leading barrister Lewis Power QC, of Church Court Chambers in London, as well as a team of solicitors. A 48,000-page document has been produced outlining the case.

But he needs to raise more funds to continue the case.

So far more than 2,200 people have donated more than £67,000 to the cause.

Mr Ball said: ‘I’ve carried out three successful crowdfunds for this case so far, all of which over-funded. But, this crowdfund is by far the most successful we’ve had.

‘We’ve never raised so much money, so quickly, from so many people at once. And we’re yet to even hit the mainstream press in a big way. I’m very happy with our progress so far, especially given how many wonderful comments of encouragement have been sent my way.

‘Johnson and family have released or leaked story after story since we went public. I don’t think this is a coincidence, I think it’s an attempt to distract from our work against him. He knows how to use press to distract.

‘I’m very happy that Lord Sugar has retweeted our work and tweeted in favour of a prosecution against Johnson. He is the only big name to be brave enough to do this so far.

‘We need more well-known public figures to come out in favour of a prosecution as soon as possible. Without such endorsements and discussion we will find it harder to achieve the public awareness we need. I would urge any such influencers to read about our case and look at our research which is available from our website and crowdfunding page.

‘What makes me very happy is that it’s clear that the vast majority of people understand that this about the conduct of elected representatives.’

A source close to Johnson highlighted an announcement by then health secretary Jeremy Hunt that the government would spend more on the NHS post-Brexit.

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