UKIP Misspent $0.5Mln of EU Funding on Boosting Brexit Campaign, Electioneering

The UK Independence Party (UKIP), which called for the country’s exit from the European Union, has misspent almost half a million dollars of EU funding on electioneering and boosting the pro-Brexit campaign ahead of the June referendum, Sky News reported Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to the Sky News television channel citing a leaked audit, the funds were provided to the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe (ADDE) party, almost 80 percent of which is made up of UKIP members. ADDE financed polling in the United Kingdom in February-December last year, which reportedly has been considered "indirect financing of a national political party" and "a referendum campaign." Both of these are banned by the European Parliament.

In this form, ADDE has misspent more than 500,615.55 euros (almost $540,000), including on other political parties, but according to an unnamed EU spokesperson, a "lion’s share" of these funds, or over 450,000 euros, was spent by UKIP.

"The constituencies selected for many of the polls underline … that the polling were conducted in the interest of UKIP. Most of the constituencies can be identified as being essential for reaching a significant representation in the House of Commons from the 2015 General Election or for a positive result for the 'Leave campaign,’" the audit said, as quoted by the channel.

According to the audit, some of the polling "can be considered as financing of a referendum campaign which violates 8(4)… prohibiting the financing of referenda campaigns."

On June 23, the United Kingdom held a referendum to determine whether or not the country should leave the European Union. According to the final results, 51.9 percent of voters, or 17.4 million people, supported Brexit.