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Written Question
UK Membership of EU: Referendums
Monday 5th November 2018

Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the time taken between the Metropolitan Police being notified by the Electoral Commission of possible breaches of electoral law by Leave.EU and their collection of relevant evidence from the Electoral Commission.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)

Following the conclusion of an investigation into the campaign spending of Vote Leave and other campaigners during the 2016 EU referendum, the Electoral Commission made two referrals to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) regarding potential criminal offences under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The first referral was received by the MPS on 11 May 2018 and the second was received on 17 July 2018. On 7 September 2018 the MPS received over 900 documents from the Electoral Commission in relation to both referrals.

The decision to launch an investigation is entirely an operational matter for the police. It would not be appropriate for Ministers to comment on operational decisions made by the MPS concerning the Electoral Commission’s referrals.

Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 18 Jan 2017
Policing and Crime Bill

"My Lords, I will speak briefly to the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady O’Neill. On two occasions, this House has previously considered the subject of whether Leveson 2 should proceed and, on both, came down firmly in favour of it going ahead. Whether or not the …..."
Lord Strasburger - View Speech

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Policing and Crime Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 11 Jul 2016
Investigatory Powers Bill

"My Lords, it is a good idea to remind ourselves at times like these that we live in a democracy, and part of what defines a democracy is that our Government do not rule us and we are not their subjects; they govern on our behalf, and with our consent. …..."
Lord Strasburger - View Speech

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Investigatory Powers Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 11 Jul 2016
Investigatory Powers Bill

"That is exactly what I was just doing.

I fully support the amendments in this group. They seek to give effect to the Intelligence and Security Committee’s demand that privacy protections should form the backbone of the legislation around which these surveillance powers are built as exceptions to the privacy …..."
Lord Strasburger - View Speech

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Investigatory Powers Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 11 Jul 2016
Investigatory Powers Bill

"My Lords, Amendment 17 in my name would provide for a statutory public interest defence for the offence set out in Clause 3. Clause 3 effectively reproduces the RIPA Section 1 criminal offence of phone hacking, of which the Prime Minister’s director of communications, Andy Coulson—among others—was convicted when he …..."
Lord Strasburger - View Speech

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Investigatory Powers Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 11 Jul 2016
Investigatory Powers Bill

"Before the noble Baroness sits down, can I point out that I share entirely her concerns and those of her noble friend about journalists confusing the public interest with the interest of the public? If there were any such amendment along the lines that I suggested, it would have to …..."
Lord Strasburger - View Speech

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Investigatory Powers Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 27 Apr 2016
Investigatory Powers Bill

"

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether clause 217 of the Investigatory Powers Bill will give them the power to force a company to break its own encryption in a similar manner to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation’s abandoned attempt to make Apple break the security of an iPhone...."
Lord Strasburger - View Speech

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Investigatory Powers Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 27 Apr 2016
Investigatory Powers Bill

"My Lords, Clause 217 of the Investigatory Powers Bill gives the Government almost unlimited powers to force, in secret, companies to remove “electronic protection” from their products. How do the Government intend to use this power in the increasingly frequent cases where a company has designed the security of its …..."
Lord Strasburger - View Speech

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Investigatory Powers Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 04 Nov 2015
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill

"My Lords, shortly after being introduced to this House I had the temerity to start raising concerns about the plethora of unfit legislation covering digital surveillance powers and the ineffective controls and oversight over their use. Initially, my questions in this Chamber were met with a mixture of stonewalling by …..."
Lord Strasburger - View Speech

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Draft Investigatory Powers Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 04 Nov 2015
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill

"It will come. I am gratified to see that all parts of the House now recognise that the current laws are hopelessly flawed and that we need to start with a clean sheet of paper to build a fresh legislative framework to cover this important and contentious area. When I …..."
Lord Strasburger - View Speech

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Draft Investigatory Powers Bill