Cllr Iain Lindley’s Diary

Those few local residents who don’t chuck advertising leaflets that come bundled with their copy of the Advertiser straight into the bin recycle bag will notice that alongside the Optical Express sale leaflet is a four-page A3 publication entitled “Barbara Keeley MP News”.

Now, the publication in question is plastered in a nice red colour with yellow trim, it is filled with stories about what the Government is doing, and there’s a big picture of Gordon Brown on page two. You would presume that the production and distribution of this newsletter would be paid for by the Labour Party, right? Wrong.

So who does pay for it? Well, if you look at the tiny writing down the side of the front page, it tells you:

Paid for by the Communications Allowance, House of Commons

Yes, that means you, the hard-working taxpayer, is paying for our local Labour MP’s political propaganda, and I defy anyone to argue that these leaflets are anything but. Not only is Barbara Keeley using taxpayers’ money for her own self-promotion, but I’m sure it’s a complete coincidence that this leaflet has arrived just as Gordon Brown is mulling over a snap election. That said, the newsletter is dated “Summer 2007″ (a bit optimistic) so perhaps she is just a bit disorganised.

Of course, had I left it at that point, someone - probably Chris Paul - would have come along and pointed out that the sitting MPs of all political parties do the same. I’m sure Chris has a few choice words for the equivalent newsletter from Withington Liberal Democrat MP John Leech. That’s absolutely true, but it doesn’t make it right. I hope that a future Conservative Government will abolish these propaganda allowances, rather than significantly increasing it as this Labour Government have done.