Does anyone remember the Tories in the Leicester South by-election claiming that the Lib Dems were racist for not using Lib Dem candidate Parmjit Singh Gill's full name in some leaflets ?
The Tories kicked up such a fuss when the more Anglicised "Parmjit Gill" was used by the Lib Dems.
Perhaps then the Tories would now like to explain why it is okay then for the Tory candidate in Ealing Southall to be called "Tony Lit" on their leaflets when even they admit that he is registered as a voter under the name of Surinderpal Singh Lit.
One has to ask is it because the majority of the Tory literature so far is being delivered in the more white Anglo Saxon dominated Ealing part of the constituency when the asian cominated Southall bit is being largely ignored ?
Is this a case of Tory hypocrisy again or another sign that their by-election campaign is coming off the rails in the wake of a defection from the Tories in Ealing Southall to the Lib Dems.
6 comments:
Sadly, Nich, I'm rapidly losing respect for you. You're fast becoming the "Mark Pack two" of the Lib Dems: indulging in rubbish, silly and politically childish politics.
The law has now changed. People are now allowed to register to vote under their common names - this, actually, WASN'T the case during the Leicester South by-election. As an agent, it's vitally important that you keep up to date with election law.
Nno sooner is Tom Watson back in Government than he's in trouble again. Apparently he is involved in breaches of electoral law. As some will remember, I mentioned last week that Tom Watson was running the Ealing Southall by-election campaign for the Labour Party. As Iain's post reports, he has posted a false statement about the Conservative candidate on his blog, and, Joan Ryan, vice-chair of the Labour Party and former Home Office minister has repeated the false statement in an open letter to the media.
According to Watson and Ryan, the Conservative candidate in Ealing Southall, Tony Lit, is not registered to vote. This is based, presumably on them looking for the name "Tony Lit" on the Electoral Register. However, Tony is the common name that he is running under as per the rules the Labour Party brought in. Had Tom Watson looked a little harder he would have found that Tony is registered to vote under his real name, Surinderpal Singh Lit.
Grant Shapps MP, in his written response to Joan Ryan has of course made his letter an open one too, reminding Ryan (and effectively Watson) that they are breaking the law in publishing false statements about candidates. It perhaps go to show how concerned Labour actually are about their level of support in Ealing given the current ward and council make up in the Borough.
(From Dizzy's blog)
Erm, it's probably because Tony himself has always gone under the name 'Tony Lit' rather than his real name.
Which was the same situation as in Leicester South, but when it was rumoured that Parmjit Gill's uncle was set to stand as a Socialist candidate, and is name is virtually identical, the full name including "Singh" was used in leaflets to differentiate Parmjit from him. This is something the Tories conveniently ignored when smearing the lib Dems at the time.
Justin, I find no justification for what you said. My story is a relevant as Iain Dale and other Tories printing the rubbish about Lib Dem posters boards. That whole story was completely made up (and the Tory agent still hasn't produced any evidence).
The law has now changed. People are now allowed to register to vote under their common names
Indeed. Which maks you wonder why someone calling themselves "Tony Lit" now, apparently wasn't when the electoral roll was updated a few months ago.
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