Downing Street aide faces calls to quit over 'outing' of Brexit whistleblower
A Downing Street aide is facing calls to resign after allegedly "outing" a whisteblower who claimed the official Brexit campaign broke strict spending rules during the European Union referendum.
Shahmir Sanni claimed at the weekend that Vote Leave used its links with another pro-Brexit group to get round the £7 million (€8.02 million) spending limit monitored by the Electoral Commission.
He also alleged through his lawyers that he had been "outed" by No 10 over a relationship he had at the time of the referendum with Stephen Parkinson, a senior figure in the Vote Leave campaign who is now Theresa May's political secretary.
Mr Parkinson said he believed it was inevitable that details of their relationship would become known once Mr Sanni decided to go public with his allegations in interviews with Channel 4 News and the Observer.
However, Chris Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower who disclosed the Facebook data breach and a friend of Mr Sanni, said Mr Parkinson's actions had put Mr Sanni's family in Pakistan in danger, forcing them to take measures for their own security.
"He was forced to come out to his mum in the middle of the night because No 10 Downing Street decided it was appropriate to out somebody," Mr Wylie told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
