No criminal charges will be launched against Tory MPs investigated over an election spending scandal, the Crown Prosecution Service has announced.
The CPS considered files submitted by 15 police forces in relation to activities surrounding Tory campaigning spending during the 2015 General Election campaign.
The authority admitted there was “evidence to suggest the returns may have been inaccurate”, but that there was “insufficient evidence to prove to the criminal standard that any candidate or agent was dishonest”.
In a statement, Nick Vamos, CPS Head of Special Crime, said: “We have considered files of evidence from 14 police forces in respect of allegations relating to Conservative Party candidates’ expenditure during the 2015 General Election campaign.
“We considered whether candidates and election agents working in constituencies that were visited by the Party’s ‘Battle Bus’ may have committed a criminal offence by not declaring related expenditure on their local returns.
“Instead, as the Electoral Commission found in its report, these costs were recorded as national expenditure by the Party. We reviewed the files in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and have concluded the tests in the Code are not met and no criminal charges have been authorised.”
However, one file, understood to relate to former South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay, was only recently received by the CPS and remains under consideration.
The CPS statement reads: “No inference as to whether any criminal charge may or may not be authorised in relation to this file should be drawn from this fact and we will announce our decision as soon as possible once we have considered the evidence in this matter.”
The deadline for ruling is on Sunday 11 June – three days after the general election.
Conservative Party Chairman Patrick McLoughlin hit out at “politically motivated and unfounded complaints” that had led to the investigation and said the scandal had wasted police time.
“After a very thorough investigation, we are pleased that the legal authorities have confirmed what we believed was the case all along,” he said.
“A number of false and malicious claims continue to be spread on the internet. People should be aware that making false claims about a candidate’s personal character and conduct is an electoral offence, as well as being defamatory.
“Notwithstanding these false claims, Conservatives want to strengthen election rules to safeguard electoral integrity – in light of the real and proven cases of electoral fraud exposed in Tower Hamlets in 2015.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was “interested and surprised” by the CPS decision.
Speaking at a Labour education event, Mr Corbyn insisted election spending laws “must be enforced”.
He added:”Quite clearly the Electoral Commission is independent, the Crown Prosecution is independent, the Director of Public Prosecutions is independent. They have to make a judgement on it.
“But our electoral laws must be enforced and must be adhered to. There are strict spending limits for a reason – so that money can’t buy power. Only votes in the ballot box should be able to get power.”