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Report to @MetCC of a suspected breach of the
Representation of the People Act 1983, Section 106:1 - ‘false statements of fact about candidates before or during elections’ - by Ms Frances Barber ( @francesbarber13).
Representation of the People Act 1983, Section 106:1 - ‘false statements of fact about candidates before or during elections’ - by Ms Frances Barber ( @francesbarber13).
1. Mr Jeremy Corbyn is a candidate in the forthcoming election, within the meaning of the Act.
2. Ms Frances Barber ( @francesbarber13) is a ‘person’, within the meaning of the Act.
3. On Friday 29 Nov 2019 at 22:52, Ms Barber, referring to the London Bridge atrocity, tweeted the following: ‘People died. Innocent men & women going to work were stabbed by a terrorist. Jeremy Corbyn is on their side. I fucking hate him.’
4. This is a ‘false statement of fact concerning the conduct or character of a candidate’: there is no evidence of any kind that Mr Corbyn is ‘on the side of’ violent terrorists, and he immediately and publicly condemned the London Bridge atrocity.
5. The false statement was made with the purpose of ‘affecting the return’ of the candidate (Mr Corbyn) within the meaning of the Act, since the accusation is highly prejudicial to Mr Corbyn and is designed to engender negative associations with him.
6. Ms Barber has no ‘reasonable grounds’ for believing the statement to be true, since there is not and has never been any evidence to support it, nor does Ms Barber advance any.
7. It is therefore my belief that Ms Frances Barber has committed a breach of Section 106:1 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, and has thus committed an ‘illegal practice’ within the meaning of the Act, and I formally ask you to open an investigation.
