Vote Leave have been fined before for breaching spending rules
The official Vote Leave campaign have been fined £40,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office for sending text messages to potential voters without their consent during the EU referendum campaign in 2016.
The Information Commissioner's Office has fined 'Vote Leave' £40,000 after an investigation found it sent more than 196,000 text messages promoting the aims of the campaign ahead of the 2016 EU referendum and was unable to provide evidence recipients had given their consent
— Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) March 19, 2019
The ICO found that Vote Leave had sent 196,154 text messages promoting their campaign in the weeks leading up to the Brexit vote on June 23.
Electoral law states that any campaign is required to have the permission of the recipients before it sends text messages promoting their cause. Vote Leave could not provide the ICO with any evidence of such permission, and has consequently been hit with a £40,000 fine.
ICO director of investigations, Steve Eckersley, said: “Spam texts are a real nuisance for millions of people and we will take action against organisations who disregard the law.
“Direct marketing is not just about selling products and services, it’s also about promoting an organisation’s aims and ideals.
“Political campaigns and parties, like any other organisations, have to comply with the law.”
This is not the first time the official Brexit campaign has been fined for breaching electoral laws. In July 2018, they were fined and reported to the police by the Electoral Commission after they were found to have breached spending rules.
The watchdog found “significant evidence” that the campaign had been in coordination with another unofficial Brexit campaign, BeLeave, and fined the official campaign £61,000.
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