Brexit: Treason felony?

Could the way in which Vote Leave used its NHS funding pledge during the EU referendum campaign amount to the offence of treason felony? That question is posed by a solicitor and legal historian in this week’s NLJ. The Treason Felony Act 1848, which remains on the statute books, was passed in response to a forged petition brought by the Chartists. Could it also apply to a bus sporting a Vote Leave NHS funding pledge that disappeared two or three days after the campaign? After all, the £350m pledge was described by Leave campaign funder Aaron Banks as a ‘blatant lie’.