Boris Johnson may be the UK's next Prime Minister, but he's up on criminal charges for Brexit "Battle Bus" lies

Boris Johnson (previously) is the racist, cowardly serial liar whose Old Etonian wealth and privilege warped and corrupted him into the kind of man who smashed up restaurants in acts of wanton, drunken vandalism, the sort of man who could never win a general election in the UK.

Despite this, he is tipped to be the country's next PM, thanks to the catastrophic failures of Theresa May, which have forced her resignation and triggered a leadership race in the Conservative party.

But even as he is being presumptively anointed to preside over the Brexit omnishambles, he's heading into court to answer for his role in deceiving the country during the Brexit referendum campaign, specifically, the claims stenciled on the side of a red "battle bus" that promised £350m/week for the NHS if Brexit were accomplished. This was a lie and everyone involved with creating the bus knew it at the time.

Prosecutor Marcus J Ball raised £255,000 through a crowdfunding campaign to bring three charges against Johnson in a private prosecution for "misconduct in public office."

After an initial court battle, Judge Margot Coleman has ruled that the prosecution can proceed, writing "Having considered all the relevant factors I am satisfied that this is a proper case to issue the summons as requested for the three offenses as drafted."

Ball's complaint claims that Johnson knew that his NHS promises were lies, and as evidence, cites instances in which Johnson used accurate figures. The complain calls for a criminal sanction as remedy for these lies, because "lying on a national and international platform undermines public confidence in politics."

There will be preliminary hearings tomorrow, and then one of four things may happen: Johnson may appeal, the Criminal Prosecution Service may allow Ball to continue with his own private proceedings, or the CPS may take over the proceedings, or they may shut them down on the basis that the prosecution is not in the public interest. Read the rest