reuters
London, May 10: No criminal charges will be brought over allegations of expenses fraud by Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives during their 2015 election campaign, prosecutors said Wednesday, removing a cloud over the party weeks before a new election.
According to media reports, more than 30 lawmakers and their electoral agents were under investigation over their spending, which is governed by tight, complex rules. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it had considered evidence from 14 police forces across the country.
“We reviewed the files in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and have concluded the tests in the Code are not met and no criminal charges have been authorised,” said Nick Vamos, the CPS head of special crime.
Opinion surveys before the 2015 election had predicted a tight result with no clear victor, but the Conservatives under then-leader David Cameron secured an absolute majority of 12 in the 650-seat parliament.
Police investigated whether expenses incurred by activists on the Conservatives’ “Battle Bus”, sent to campaign in closely-contested seats, were deliberately not declared on the local candidate’s expenditure returns but recorded as a national cost instead, to avoid breaking spending limits.
The Electoral Commission, the independent election watchdog, in March fined the Conservatives a record 70,000 pounds ($91,000) for breaking rules by incorrectly reporting its spending, but the CPS said it would be impossible to prove deliberate wrongdoing.
\
