UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage has slammed the government for claiming that the Brexit referendum vote was “fake”.
Read moreMr Farage, who led the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, was among a group of politicians who claimed on social media that the result of the Brexit poll was “not real”.
The Independent has contacted the Department for Exiting the European Community (DECC) for a comment.
A spokesperson for the department said: “The UK has an open and democratic process and we take seriously any allegations of fraud or deception.
We are working closely with the Electoral Commission to understand how this allegation was made.”
Mr Farage said he had received a number of emails from people who claimed to be registered to vote in the referendum, including people who were already registered to register to vote.
“If they’re lying about their identity, then they are lying about who they are,” he said.
He said that people who voted were told they were not required to provide proof of their identity when registering to vote, and that they were given a chance to change their minds.
He added that some of those who changed their minds did so only after the deadline had passed.
He also questioned whether the vote was legitimate, saying that if there was any fraud the government should have investigated more thoroughly.
“The referendum was rigged, they’re going to be investigating this very hard to be honest with you,” he told Sky News.
“We’ve had this government, we’re getting a free vote from a very small minority of people, and they have now tried to rig the vote.
It’s not about the people.
It doesn’t mean that they are the right people to run the country.”
It’s about the system.
We’ve got to get the whole system fixed.
I think the government has been caught flatfooted.
“Read moreHe also said that he was unsure what exactly “fake” means.”
I’m not sure exactly what it is, but I don’t think it’s fake,” he added.”
They could be lying to get a false sense of legitimacy.
“You might have got a bunch of people who did it, or a couple of people that didn’t do it.
The idea is that they have done it to get some legitimacy and a lot of publicity.”