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Labour sinks to new low in Southville campaign

Honesty abandoned in desperate attempt to hold seat

28th April 2007

For immediate release

A union's political fund is being used in a desperate attempt to mislead voters in Southville, where a Green candidate is poised to win a seat from Labour in this weeks elections.

A leaflet is being distributed in Southville by the Transport & General Workers Union, which has close links with the Labour Party. It urges electors not to vote for Green Party candidate Tess Green, widely tipped to take this second seat from Labour after Cllr Charlie Bolton's success a year ago.

The T&G leaflet alleges that the Greens don't support the council's home care workers in their fight against further privatisation of Bristol's home care service. The claim seems to be based on Cllr Charlie Bolton's decision to abstain from Labour's vote of 'no confidence' in the LibDem cabinet member who pushed the latest stage of privatisation through.

In fact the Greens have consistently (unlike Labour!) opposed transferring public services to the private sector. In February their Southville candidate Tess Green publicly condemned the move to extend the privatisation of the home care service . Tess, who herself has a long record of trade union activism in the public services, blamed both the Labour government and the Bristol's LibDem's cabinet and spelled out the dangers of privatisation.

Charlie Bolton said:
"We've always made clear our belief that essential public services are best kept in public hands. In this case, it's comprehensively covered in my blog and in Tess's press release.

Any Union researcher could have checked that with a few clicks of a mouse - or simply by ringing us to ask.

Labour seem to see privatisation solely as an electoral opportunity to to grab votes - at the expense of the truth. It is sad to see a once principled party stooping to these depths."

A Green Party member of the T&G has formally asked the union to stop circulation of the leaflet.

ENDS

Contact:

Charlie Bolton, Tel 0117 966 1639
Tess Green, 0117 985 2795
Peter Goodwin (Green Party Press Officer) 01275 543280

Note:

Labour is already under fire in Bristol after its Lawrence Hill candidate was found to have doctored photographs to suggest he was on an anti-Iraq war march. See www.libdemvoice.org/are-labour-faking-photos-in-bristol-717.html