Labour threatens to report 'feral' Lib Dems to POLICE for by-election 'smear' tactics
The Labour Party has threatened to report the Liberal Democrats for "cynical" tactics on the Mid Bedfordshire campaign trail.
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The Labour Party has threatened to report the Liberal Democrats for "cynical" tactics on the Mid Bedfordshire campaign trail.
The party has argued that a "smear campaign" allegedly being conducted by the Lib Dems could be illegal.
The two parties are battling it out to unseat the Conservatives from Mid Bedfordshire in October's by-election.
The by-election was called after Nadine Dorries resigned over the summer.
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A legal letter, sent to the Lib Dems election agent by Labour, accused the party of two breaches of the Representation of the People Act.
Peter Kyle, Labour MP for Hove, is leading the campaign. He told the Sun the Lib Dems have "gone feral", accusing the party of "wallowing in the gutter".
Labour has claimed the Lib Dems' first offence is allegedly spreading "false statements" on campaign literature.
The party has allegedly claimed Labour candidate Alistair Strathern does not live in the constituency and is a London councillor.
Labour's letter says: "As you will be well aware, he has now resigned as a councillor in London and has relocated back to Shefford in Bedfordshire."
They accused the Lib Dems of a "deliberate and cynical attempt to damage the Labour Party candidate’s electoral prospects".
The party's second offence was allegedly "misleading" voters with a false poll.
Labour's letter hit out at a "misleading bar chart which shows a 7 per cent increase in voters polled favouring the Liberal Democrats against a 5 per cent increase for the Conservatives, thereby giving the impression that the Liberal Democrats are in first place in a neck-to-neck contest with the Conservatives".
They added: "However, this is incorrect as the Liberal Democrats are in fact in third place, behind both the Labour Party and the Conservatives."
Labour said the election tactics “amount to the corrupt practice of undue influence”, demanding the destruction of all existing leaflets.
They have also asked for a written apology and retraction from the Lib Dems.
In their letter, Labour warned: "Failure to comply with our requests will result in a report being made to the Police and a referral made to the Director of Public Prosecutions."
Speaking to the Sun, Kyle said: "The Lib Dem campaign has gone feral.
"While Labour focusses on a positive program to Mid Bedfordshire residents, the Lib Dems do nothing but fill people’s letterboxes with lies, smears and innuendo."
In response, the Lib Dems have accused Labour of "desperate" tactics to undermine their campaign.
Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, said: "People in Mid Bedfordshire will be livid over Labour threats to waste police time, when locally people can't remember the last time they saw a bobby on the beat.
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Kyle said the Lib Dem campaign has "gone feral"
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"This is dirty tricks from a desperate Labour campaign that knows it cannot win Mid Bedfordshire.
"If Labour were serious about this by-election, they would not have picked a candidate who lived 50 miles away when selected, and until just a few days ago was an elected councillor in East London.
"The Liberal Democrat vote is surging in Mid-Bedfordshire and we now have the momentum to win this rural constituency."
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