Tory and Lib Dem by-election hypocrisy...
hopisen Sun May 18, 2008 at 05:20:04 PM GMT 
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Most of the below is from my blog, but I thought since Labourhome seems to have been a victom of some Tory trolling on this issue, this might be a helpful antidote...
I've been up in Crewe this weekend, enjoying the weather, Harvey's sandwich shop and helping out in the campaign - and oh so unsurprisingly, there's a lot of handwringing from the press about the campaign.
It's a load of rubbish, of course, but that doesn't seem to stop them recycling tory attack lines.
In a funny sort of way I've got respect for the Mail on Sunday, the Telegraph et al. They have an agenda - to attack New Labour with any weapons they can find - and if attacking the Labour campaign is part of that, well that's what they do. no point whining about it.
After all, being lectured by Quentin "Gorbals Mick" Letts about the evils of class warfare is at least amusing. The man clearly has no scruples.
So I don't mind that. If the right wing press weren't attacking us for our campaign they'd be attacking us for something else. 'Twas ever thus.
No, what gets my goat is how respectable, nice lefties recycle this nonsense in national newspaper columns as if it were gospel truth.
Let's review the facts, shall we?
The Tories are accussing Labour of running a "class war campaign" after they repeatedly attacked Labour's by-election candidate in Brent for living in "millionaires row".
Oddly, I don't remember Andrew Rawnsley, John Harris or Quentin Letts frothing with rage and declaring it the lowest point in the history of politics. Funny that.
Oddly, I don't remember Andrew Rawnsley, John Harris or Quentin Letts frothing with rage and declaring it the lowest point in the history of politics. Funny that.
Don't believe me? Well, here's a link to the Tories very own "Class war" leaflet, complete with "outrageous" picture of the Labour candidates mansion on "millionaires row"
And how about immigration? The Tories are apparently disgusted that Labour mentioned ID cards for foriegn nationals, saying that despite it being Tory party policy to oppose them, it was xenophobic of us to even mention it.
Yet this same Tory campaign opened their pitch for votes with a press release about the need to reduce immigration.
Strangely it's now been airbrushed from history, having disappeared from the Tories by-election news archive in an impressively Orwellian piece of doublethink.
Still, these things are harder to hide than just deleting them from your website, especially when you've got your friend Iain Dale to promote it on his blog...
So here's a quote from the first Tory Press release of the campaign, a personal letter from Tory candidate Edward Timpson.
"Do you believe that the net level of immigration should be reduced?"
So here's a quote from the first Tory Press release of the campaign, a personal letter from Tory candidate Edward Timpson.
"Do you believe that the net level of immigration should be reduced?"
I believe that this government has failed to give local public services the support they need to cope with a rising population... so we need to plan properly for increases in population, and reduce the overall level of net immigration"
So who exactly is running the xenophobic campaign?
The Tories have also been flat out lying about Labour. They're Telling journalists we've been calling people at 4am pretending to be Tories.
This is a lie.
It's a lie that has two useful components - It's both re-usable (this briefing has been done before) and undisprovable - how can Labour ever prove that they haven't been phoning people up like this? It's impossible
The fact journalists have swallowed this stuff shows how much they want to believe the Tory campaign machine.
So who exactly is running the xenophobic campaign?
The Tories have also been flat out lying about Labour. They're Telling journalists we've been calling people at 4am pretending to be Tories.
This is a lie.
It's a lie that has two useful components - It's both re-usable (this briefing has been done before) and undisprovable - how can Labour ever prove that they haven't been phoning people up like this? It's impossible
The fact journalists have swallowed this stuff shows how much they want to believe the Tory campaign machine.
So who else is "running a class war campaign"? Surely not the sainted Lib Dems, whose champions despise that sort of thing.
Strange then that Lib Dem leaflets here in Crewe feature quotes like this one prominently...
"Out of touch Teddy? Conservative millionaire Edward Timpson is looking increasingly out of touch with hard-working families people in Crewe and Nantwich. Edward’s family business has a turnover of £100 million – and his parents bought him a race horse for his 30th birthday”
Nor would the Lib dems dog whistle on immigration, being far to pure for that. So it must have been an evil gremlin who inserted these words into a Lib Dem campaign direct mail...
“Rising immigration is adding pressure to our overstretched schools and local NHS”
So, yes- it's a roughty, toughty campaign. By elections often are.
"Out of touch Teddy? Conservative millionaire Edward Timpson is looking increasingly out of touch with hard-working families people in Crewe and Nantwich. Edward’s family business has a turnover of £100 million – and his parents bought him a race horse for his 30th birthday”
Nor would the Lib dems dog whistle on immigration, being far to pure for that. So it must have been an evil gremlin who inserted these words into a Lib Dem campaign direct mail...
“Rising immigration is adding pressure to our overstretched schools and local NHS”
So, yes- it's a roughty, toughty campaign. By elections often are.
Except for one thing. No-one, not Tory journalists or leftie ones seems to be interested in asking the tories any hard questions.
After all their candidate stands to benefit from a Tory tax cut worth hundreds of thousands to him and his family, but won't say if he thinks that's a better way of spending money than a tax cut for local families.
Their candidate says he's opposed to Post Office cuts, but won't tell David Cameron he should sack his Post Office spokesman, who said the Tories would shrink the post office network.
Nor would the Tory candidate cut car tax, as his leaflets suggest- because his Leader has said he won't.
Yet all the Tory candidate does in this campaign is nod supportively next to his leader, hardly saying a word while his boss does all the talking.
He knows his place, I guess, and is backing Cameron not Crewe
He knows his place, I guess, and is backing Cameron not Crewe
Tory and Lib Dem by-election hypocrisy... | 9 comments (9 topical)
Tory and Lib Dem by-election hypocrisy... | 9 comments (9 topical)
