Thursday, 25 June 2009

Labour’s dishonest e-mail campaign backfires

Even Labour friends of mine are pulling their hair out at Gordon Brown’s dishonest line of “Labour investment vs Tory cuts.” A more honest approach would be “Labour cuts vs Tory cuts”.

One Labour colleague is so fed up, she has just forwarded me an email Liam Byrne has sent to Labour Party members.

I love the PS at the bottom.

Dear XXXX,

You may have seen in the news today that David Cameron’s Conservatives would make cuts to public services from day one of a Tory government.

Whatever he says about public services, it’s now clear that David Cameron can’t resist the Tory instinct for cuts to public services. The Tories are obviously hoping to hide the details of the cuts until after a general election but the fact is that they would cut our schools and police to pay for tax breaks - starting with £200,000 for Britain’s 3000 richest estates.

However warmly he talks about schools and hospitals there is no doubt David Cameron would invest less. He has said very clearly that “a Conservative government would spend less than Labour” and “some areas would be cut”. This year alone he would cut £5 billion from public services – that’s equivalent to a cutting 3,500 police immediately. And in the future, no matter what the economic landscape, he would cut public services by even more – cuts of 10 per cent according to the Shadow Health Secretary. That’s the equivalent of 15,000 police – equivalent to 30 bobbies off the beat in every constituency.

Under David Cameron’s plans the British people would have to expect less from public services. Not just because of the cuts his party would make. But because their approach to public services, like their approach to the economy, is not to stand by people but walk on by.

Liam

PS. You can always send a letter to your local paper to ask Conservative candidates “Which local schools will you see closed, and what streets are not going to be policed?” - I would love to hear the answers they give you.

If Labour members are despondent about this campaign, how’s this message going down with everyone else?

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