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		</div><p>Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson could be prosecuted privately for comments made in the run-up to the EU referendum after a judge agreed to hold a public hearing on the matter, a campaigner has said.</p>
<p>Marcus Ball, 29, is bringing the private case against Mr Johnson for allegedly abusing public trust during the EU referendum campaign.</p>
<p>The next stage of the case will take place on May 23 – the date of the European Parliament elections.</p>
<p>Mr Ball alleges that the former foreign secretary committed misconduct in public office by endorsing and making statements which he knew to be false at a time when he was mayor of London and an MP.</p>
<p>The allegation relates to the much-trumpeted claim by the Vote Leave campaign that the UK sends £350 million a week to the European Union, which was found to be misleading by the UK Statistics Authority.</p>
<p>Mr Ball appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday afternoon for a behind-closed-doors legal hearing ahead of the case starting properly later this month.</p>
<p>Giles Bright, Mr Ball’s solicitor, said: <em>“The court has determined that a public hearing will take place on Thursday May 23 at this court, at which the judge will consider the application to issue a summons against the proposed defendant, Mr Boris Johnson MP, for the offence of misconduct in a public office.”</em></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Update for my backers:<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BallVJohnson?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BallVJohnson</a> </p>
<p>Today is the first day, after almost 3 years of work, that our prosecution case against Mr Johnson MP is being heard in court.</p>
<p>Please, no <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Insults?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Insults</a>. No <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Brexit?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Brexit</a> talk. No <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Politics?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Politics</a>. Only <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Justice?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Justice</a>. </p>
<p>Remember: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/InnocentUnlessProvenGuilty?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#InnocentUnlessProvenGuilty</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Marcus J Ball #StopLyingInPolitics (@MarcusJBall) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarcusJBall/status/1128187523061121025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 14, 2019</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Speaking before the hearing, Mr Ball said: <em>“This is a purely legal case, it is not about political point-scoring.</em></p>
<p><em>“And we must remember he is innocent until proven guilty.”</em></p>
<div data-google-query-id="CKmY0O7pm-ICFc0MgQodjwAKhg">
<p><em>In a tweet posted to his 13,000 followers before he headed into court, Mr Ball said: “Today is the first day, after almost 3 years of work, that our prosecution case against Mr Johnson MP is being heard in court.”</em></p>
<p>More than 30 supporters gathered outside the court while Mr Ball’s case was heard.</p>
<p>They were joined for a brief moment by self-styled Boris Johnson lookalike Drew Galdron – but the 35-year-old left a short time later after Mr Ball’s supporters said the “stunt would muddy the waters” and distract attention from their cause.</p>
<p>Before the hearing, Mr Ball said: <em>“This case is a world first, it has never happened before. A member of Parliament has never been prosecuted for misconduct in public office based upon alleged lying to the public.</em></p>
<p><em>“My backers and I aspire to set a precedent in the UK common law making it illegal for an elected representative to lie to the public about financial matters.”</em></p>
<p>Mr Ball previously said he raised more than £370,000 across several crowdfunding campaigns to finance the case, but he declined to provide an update outside court.</p>
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