Tag: National Crime Agency

No EU referendum should take place until the laws around the use of social media and campaign funding have been significantly tightened, Britain’s elections watchdog has warned. Bob Posner, interim chief executive of the Electoral Commission, said that six-figure fines were needed to deter campaigners from breaching election laws – far higher than the penalties currently in place. “We would want to extend investigative powers. “We would want much speedier reporting after the event of all the financial spending. And we’d also want more transparency during the event. Arron Banks, the biggest Brexit donor, was referred to the National Crime Agency last year over claims that “a number of criminal offences may have been committed” regarding his £8m funding for Leave.EU. He denies any wrongdoing. Asked if he would be worried if a referendum were to be held without the law being updated, Posner said: “We would be concerned … because we would want there to be learning from the previous event, which would raise people’s confidence, and it’s difficult to think that it would be sensible for parliament simply to take the rules from the last referendum and paste them across.” Updating the law could be done as part of the parliamentary process needed to approve a second referendum. But Posner said there should be “an ability in the really egregious cases for us to fine at a level that matters. If the fines remain too low – and I think they are too low at the moment – then the result is you’re going to get more cases in front of the criminal courts, which is harsh and difficult for people.