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Boris Johnson could appear in court after a crowdfunded legal case filed an application for a summons against him for misconduct in a public office.

Marcus Ball, the private prosecutor leading the BrexitJustice campaign, said this morning they have spent “over two and a half years collecting evidence, finding witnesses”.

The application submitted contains “a lot more information than you would need to make it clear we’re very serious”.

A district judge’s decision on the case could be made as soon as within a month, The Londoner understands. Ball was careful to stress they have no expectations as to the date.

BrexitJustice alleges that Johnson (left) has “committed three counts of misconduct in public office”, specifically “statements concerning the cost of European Union membership, which were false, misleading and which abused public trust”.

If Johnson were summoned, Ball or a colleague “will be tasked with serving him with a summons” in person and Johnson “will be compelled to turn up” to court.

At the time of going to press the campaign has reached only 31 per cent of its £500,000 target. “I am concerned about the lack of funding we currently have,” Ball conceded, adding he’d been working “way over 65-hour weeks” for comparatively little pay. But if the news from court was good, “I think there will be a large amount of money coming in.” He continued: “I’m trying to make a big change to the way politics and the legal system work.”

His aim is to make it harder for politicians to mislead in public office. “You need a lot of evidence. In the case we’re dealing with, we have evidence which exceeds 100 instances [of] things he’s said. We’re trying to analyse what he said honestly and what he did not.”

Ball was also keen to stress that Johnson was “innocent until proven guilty” and also that it was “not the intention of this prosecution to stop or delay Brexit on 29th March 2019”.

The Londoner approached Mr Johnson’s representatives this morning but they declined to comment.

When Tony failed to strike a chord

Tony Blair’s hopes of being a rock star ended in the early 1970s when a bandmate in Ugly Rumours gave him this “very blunt” assessment: “I’ve got to be honest with you, your problem is basically talent, or the lack of it.

“Your singing’s not very good and your guitar playing is actually genuinely substandard.”

Blair — who relates this to James O’Brien’s podcast — says the fellow musician went on: “What’s more, I’ve actually watched you trying ... and I don’t think any amount of practice is going to improve you.”

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Defence minister Tobias Ellwood accuses the European Research Group of seeking to dominate the Tory “broad church”, taking over “the pulpit, the choir stalls, and indeed the bell tower as well”. “Many other ministers” agree, he told Nick Robinson’s podcast, adding: “Has any one group within a political party had so much influence?” Reaching for a comparison, he references the hard-Right “Tea Party in the United States”.

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Paul Masterton, Tory MP for East Renfrewshire, says now it’s March it’s time to “check in on how my New Year’s resolution is going”. He posted a screenshot of his average weekly activity. “Runs: 0. Time: 0h. Distance: 0km.”

Layton in the pink at stage awards

The title of musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie has proved prescient: the show, about a schoolboy who wants to be a drag queen, debuted in 2017 and has gone on to become a West End favourite. Last night Layton Williams, the latest actor to play Jamie, walked the red carpet with the show’s real-life inspiration, Jamie Campbell. The pair stepped out at the annual the WhatsOnStage awards at the Prince of Wales Theatre, where they accepted the gong for best original cast recording.

Hamilton was the big winner of the evening, with Jamael Westman picking up best actor in a musical and Jason Pennycooke taking best supporting actor in the same category. Poldark’s Aidan Turner took best actor in a play for his role in The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Patti LuPone was named best supporting actress in a musical for her role in Company, and Vanessa Redgrave was honoured with the best supporting actress in a play for her part in The Inheritance.

Other guests included Cassidy Janson, who is currently in rehearsals for a revival of Man of La Mancha alongside Kelsey Grammer.

SW1A

Labour’s Rupa Huq (below) was the target of racist abuse over the weekend. The MP and sister of ex-Blue Peter host Konnie Huq received an email calling her “a miserable, stinking, filthy EU whore” and telling her to “return to Bangladesh”. Huq replied that she “will continue to fight for a #peoplesvote” and “won’t be taking advice on ‘returning’ to somewhere I’ve only holidayed to”, adding: “[I’ve] been to the Isle of Wight more often.”

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Alex Burghart MP recalls a 15th-century recipe for gout relief: “Take an owl, and pluck it clean; and open it clean, and salt it; and put it in a new pot, and cover it with a stone; and put it in an oven and let it stand till it be burnt; and then stamp it with boar’s grease, and anoint the gout therewith.” Simon Hoare MP declares: “It works!”

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Too much time in Parliament? Jess Phillips’ kids “were just talking over each other and I found myself instinctively making the gutteral noise the Speaker makes to shut up MPs”.

Corbyn trolls target peacemaker Angela

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner praised Tony Blair’s call for a more united Labour yesterday, but instantly attracted “nasty and divisive” comments from self-described Corbyn fans.

“The trolling I’ve had today is typical of the toxic political landscape we are in,” says an exasperated Rayner. “If there is no room for people like me in our party then we will never get Jeremy into No 10.”

Rayner was once considered a post-Corbyn leadership contender. Now she posts screenshots of the abuse with one saying: “What the f*** is happening to you, Angela? Go join TIG.”

Quote of the day

"I’m not one to miss a good march." John McDonnell teases that he could join the People’s Vote march on March 23 despite Labour’s ambivalence towards another referendum