Boris Johnson’s fightback against ‘£350m-a-week’ trial is delayed because the High Court judge who was due to hear review ‘is Ed Miliband’s WIFE’
- The former foreign secretary lodged a request for a judicial review last week
- But Mrs Justice Thornton was the duty judge and ‘recused’ herself from the case
- It means another judge will have to deal with it instead, causing a short delay
By David Wilcock, Whitehall Correspondent For Mailonline
Published: 06:47 EDT, 5 June 2019 | Updated: 10:43 EDT, 5 June 2019
Boris Johnson‘s fightback against a Remainer court case over the referendum campaign was briefly delayed after Ed Miliband’s judge wife was chosen to preside over a hearing.
The former foreign secretary lodged a request for a judicial review last week after he was ordered to appear in court over his claim Britain sends EU £350m every week.
But the High Court judge on duty was Mrs Justice Thornton, 48, the wife of the former Labour leader, according to the Sun.
She immediately ‘recused’ herself from the hearing because of her political connection to the Labour Party.
It means another judge had to handle it.
Barrister Justine Thornton, pictured here with husband Ed Miliband in 2015, was made a High Court judge earlier this year
Mr Johnson’s representatives have called the case a ‘stunt’ brought forward for ‘political purposes’
The 48-year-old barrister was made a judge in February this year.
Lawyers representing entrepreneur and anti-Brexit campaigner Marcus Ball, 29, have brought three charges of misconduct in a public office against Mr Johnson alleging he made statements to the public he ‘knew to be false’.
Two relate to when he served as both an MP and Mayor of London before the 2016 referendum and the other in his role as MP in the run-up to the 2017 General Election.
The front runner to replace Theresa May as Tory leader could become the first serving Prime Minister in the modern era to appear in the dock if his attempt to have the case thrown out fails.
Mr Johnson’s representatives have called the case a ‘stunt’ brought forward for ‘political purposes’ while former Tory cabinet minister David Mellor called District Judge Margot Coleman’s ruling ‘nutty’ and Jacob-Rees Mogg, who is supporting Mr Johnson’s leadership campaign, added it was ‘an attack on free speech’.
Lawyers representing entrepreneur and anti-Brexit campaigner Marcus Ball, 29, have brought three charges of misconduct in a public office against Mr Johnson
Michael Gove was among the colleagues who came to Mr Johnson’s defence last week, saying the move was an attempt to ‘criminalise free speech’.
And a source close to Mr Johnson said the prosecution was ‘nothing less than a politically motivated attempt to reverse Brexit and crush the will of the people’.
Mr Johnson made the comments in the run-up to the 2016 EU referendum and before the 2017 General Election, claiming the UK should give the cash to the NHS instead.
He could now face a crown court trial and if found guilty might be jailed for more than six months, with the maximum sentence life imprisonment.
It also raises the possibility he could be forced to appear in court while trying to negotiate Brexit with the EU, with a new Tory leader due to be appointed before the end of July.
A judiciary spokesman said: ‘When the application was lodged last Friday, Mrs Justice Thornton was the duty judge. She recused herself from hearing the application.
‘The case was then put before the judge in charge of the Administrative Court, who decided that it required an urgent oral hearing, which has been scheduled for Friday this week. There has been no delay.’
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