Father calls for new EU referendum after funding misuse probe

Wayne Green, of Brighton Road, Shoreham, said: “There could be a legal obligation to nullify the result and start again.”

He said he was ‘very interested’ to discover that an audit by the European Parliament Bureau had concluded that EU funds given to the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe, a European political party, had been misused by UKIP, one of its members, in the run up to the referendum.

As a result, the Electoral Commission has launched its own investigation, which is ongoing, to determine whether UK election law had been breached.

Mr Green said: “If you’ve got funds being used fraudulently, the referendum could be deemed illegal.

“It’s something that should be looked at.”

In a petition, the 58-year-old urges the European Parliament to insist the British Government holds the referendum again, if the misuse of funds is confirmed.

Mr Green, who has a background in international relations and politics, said he was ‘devastated’ by the referendum result.

“They have stolen the future of the younger generation,” he said, adding that his children – aged 18, 24 and 26 – were also ‘deeply upset’ by the outcome.

The Labour supporter, who was recently elected the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Officer in the constituency Labour party, does not accept that Brexit is inevitable and said that, were a new referendum to be held: “The result would be totally different, quite the opposite.”

In a letter to Mr Green, the chairman of the Committee of Petitions at the EU Parliament, Cecilia Wikstrom, said his remarks had been taken note of and had been passed on to the relevant committees.

Mr Green said: “I’m very impressed that they’re taking it very seriously.”