Press Release
North East No Campaign
10 am 24th September...2004
IMMEDIATE
High Court Writ to be Served on Deputy Prime Minister by No Campaign
Following the notice served on the Rt. Hon Nick Raynsford yesterday and
the failure of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to take any
positive action to correct the factually incorrect leaflet 'Have Your
Say' for all 1,900,000 voters in the North East Referendum, the North
East No Campaign has been left with no choice but to launch an action in
the High Court today.
Lawyers have prepared an application in the public interest for an
emergency Injunction with papers to be lodged today at the Royal Courts
of Justice. A writ will be served on John Prescott's Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister.
Letters of objection requesting a full correction of the leaflet have
been ignored by the ODPM, the Audit Commission and the Electoral
Commission, leaving the No Campaign with no choice but to take this
drastic and high profile step. The urgency is due to the fact that a
partial correction is due to go out to only 220,000 households in the
North East on Monday 27th September, yet the errors affect all 1,900,000
voters.
Lawyers at Cherie Blair's former chambers, 4-5 Grays Inn Square, Grays
Inn, yesterday put Rt Hon Nick Raynsford on notice that the No Campaign
would be taking this action. To see the copy of the notice click here
<http://neilherron.blogspot.com/2004/09/high-noon-for-raynsford.html>.
The No Campaign's lawyers received a fax last night at 5.15pm from the
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister requesting more time, and they have
lawyers working on a response.
The papers will be lodged by Neil Herron and Colin Moran of the North
East No Campaign along with their legal representatives at 2pm today at
the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, London (bringing back
memories of the Metric Martyrs Case and ironically this time the people
putting the Government before the courts rather than vice versa).
Neil Herron states, "We have given the Deputy Prime Minister repeated
opportunities to address the factually incorrect statement which gives
the impression that people will be elected under proportional
representation. Also, the partial correction addressing the incorrect
cost figure for local government reorganisation has been admitted BUT
there needs to be a correction for everyone who received the leaflet,
not just County Durham. The people across the whole of the North
East cannot be expected to vote on the North East's future based on a
misleading document. We do not wish to jeopardise the referendum, but a
decision affecting ours and our children's future cannot be made without
everyone having the correct information."
Colin Moran states, " The clock is ticking and we are aware that their
lawyers are urgently working on a response to attempt to avoid court
action. We hope that respect for the North East public's right to be
informed and that a common sense solution would be in the best interests
of everyone."
ENDS
Neil Herron
Campaign Director
North East No Campaign
48 Frederick Street
Sunderland
SR1 1NF
Tel. 0191 565 7143
www.northeastnocampaign.co.uk
*Contacts*
*Neil Herron*
*Mob. 07776 202045*
**
*Colin Moran*
*Mob. 07802 448 635*
Legal Representatives:
Tilbrook's, Quires Green, Willingale, Ongar, Essex CM5 0QP
Tel: 01277 896000 Fax: 01277 896050
Counsel:
Philip Coppel
4-5 Gray's Inn Square, Gray's Inn, London WC1R 5AH
Tel: 020 - 7670 1530 (direct)