The anti-Brexit activist behind Boris Johnson’s prosecution for allegedly lying about how much money the EU takes from Britain agreed voters were “thick and easily lied to or misled” and suggested they were incapable of making “complex decisions”.

Sitting down with Tom Slater, now of spiked, in August 2016, it was put to Marcus Ball, 29, that “the underlying argument of you and your campaign is that people are thick, they’re easily lied to, they’re easily misled.”

“Yeah,” he cut in with an unhesitating smirk.

Here's Marcus Ball, the guy who crowdfunded the legal action against Boris Johnson, calling voters thick: pic.twitter.com/TUwXyoXBkT — spiked (@spikedonline) May 30, 2019

Expanding on the theme, he later suggested that “our education system sucks” and that “people are not capable of making these hugely complex decisions… that’s why we have elected officials,” according to The Telegraph.

The question of why the public should be allowed to decide who their elected officials should be if they are not capable of forming a view on the issues those elected officials will be deciding was left unclear — although EU membership does resolve the conundrum somewhat by taking huge swathes of policy control away from elected officials and placing them in the hands of unelected technocrats in Brussels.

WATCH | Politicians facing private prosecution for potentially inaccurate claims and misconduct in public office? Looking forward to seeing this chap in the dock! 🙋‍♂️ Support us at https://t.co/iICfFb8qqg pic.twitter.com/p89OYWXpls — Leave.EU (@LeaveEUOfficial) May 29, 2019

Mr Ball’s own honesty has come under the spotlight since a judge decided to entertain his prosecution and command Johnson to appear before the courts, with reports alleging that he spent a portion of the almost £430,000 he crowdfunded to pursue the case “on himself, including a luxury flat complete with a private gym, as well as self-defence classes, hotel rooms and even dozens of ‘branded cupcakes’.”

“I chose a building which had security staff, security cameras outside and inside, as well as fitness facilities on site… Some people may criticise me for spending so much on rent, but I don’t regret this decision,” he stated bluntly.

“By protecting myself I protect our work,” he suggested.

Surely this was misconduct in public office ? https://t.co/Wv33ArkEeP — Kate Hoey (@KateHoeyMP) May 29, 2019

Follow Jack Montgomery on Twitter: @JackBMontgomery