This Is Why The Electoral Commission Budgeted For Post-Brexit EU Election
27 May 2018, 13:12
The Electoral Commission has budgeted over £800,000 for a post-Brexit European Parliamentary election, but critics claim it is a a secret plan to stay in the EU.
The electoral watchdog has budgeted over £800,000 to pay for its "activities relating to a European Parliamentary election in 2019" as a “precautionary measure".
A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said that the funds were set aside "in the unlikely event" that the election goes ahead.
The elections are due to take place between May 23 and May 26 next year, just weeks after Britain is meant to have left the European Union on March 29.
Christopher Hope, chief political correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, who wrote the original news story, told Nigel Farage that there was a legal obligation for them to do so.
Nigel Farage said that he will "be in the mix" if the UK did contest the elections.
"Make no mistake about it," he said, "I think we would try and use it as a chance to teach them a lesson they would never, ever forget."
"I will leave the European Parliament when we leave the European Union.
"If we leave the EU on March 29th next year, I will have a little celebratory get together on the night before and I'll be on Eurostar at lunch time out of there, never to be seen again!"
