The Observer view on campaign funding and election cheats | Observer editorial

After the manipulated Brexit debate, we must wake up to the threat of social media campaigns and the risk of foreign meddling

In the home to the mother of parliaments, it’s easy to feel complacent about the robustness of our democracy. Yet what if it is more fragile than we would like to think? In recent months, a committee of MPs has warned of a “crisis in our democracy”, while the chair of the Electoral Commission has cautioned that the UK faces a “perfect storm” of threats to the integrity of our elections.

The National Crime Agency announcement that it has launched a criminal inquiry into allegations of multiple offences by Arron Banks, co-founder of the Leave.EU campaign, is only the latest indication that these warnings may be far from hyperbole. The NCA investigation comes after the commission found reasonable grounds to suspect that Banks was “not the true source” of £8m of funding to Leave.EU, £2.9m of which was spent during the regulated campaign period, and that this money came from “impermissible sources” – a company incorporated in the Isle of Man, which would be illegal under UK electoral law.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2SOKvvA