Harriet Harman has committed a criminal offence

Harriet Harman has committed a criminal offence

I know that Harriet Harman is a good lawyer. I also know that she is a bad politician. What I don't know is how long she can remain the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and a MP given that she has clearly committed a criminal offence under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The relevant section reads:

39
False statements: offence

A person commits an offence if—

(a)

he knowingly or recklessly makes a statement to the Commission which is false in any material particular, and

(b)
the statement is made, or purports to be made, on behalf of a party for any purpose of this Part of this Act.

Twice in her statement to the media Harriet Harman claimed that she had accepted the dodgy donation "in good faith". Under normal circumstances acting in good faith negates having acted in bad faith. However, the charge is not that Harriet Harman acted in bad faith. Rather, it is that she acted recklessly. Gordon Brown and Hilary Benn have avoided this charge by not accepting a donation from David Abrahams via an agent Miss Janet Kidd. Furthermore, Hilary Benn took care to ensure that his donation came from and was declared as coming from David Abrahams. Because Harriet Harman failed to take care, which would normally be termed as being negligent, she was reckless.

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