Michael Gove (left) and Boris Johnson hold a press conference at Brexit HQ in Westminster, London. Stefan Rousseau/PA Archive/PA ImagesOn September 11 2001, a UK government special advisor wrote a memo to department of transport staff. With the world transfixed by the horror in New York, she wrote, “it is now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury.”
England beating Colombia on penalties in the World Cup does not have quite the same news value as the largest terrorist attack in US history, but for Vote Leave it does not matter much. Today is a very good day to bury bad news it seems, particularly the news that the Electoral Commission will find that the largest leave campaign broke UK electoral law during the Brexit referendum.
Late last night, with every front page and news bulletin dominated by the dramatic scenes at Spartak stadium, news broke on the BBC News website that Vote Leave is expected to be found guilty of four breaches of British electoral law, including telling a donor to give more than £600,000 to fashion student Darren Grimes just days before the vote. The draft Electoral Commission report - details of which have apparently been preemptively leaked to the BBC - follows a lengthy investigation prompted by reports from openDemocracy and others raising serious concerns about Vote Leave’s spending.
