Author Archives: Mark Pack

1. Gordon Brown is scheduled to make a big eduction speech.

2. His spin doctors approach journalists in five difference areas around the country giving them quotes from the speech which praise by name a local school.

3. Local newspapers around the country run positive stories (positive for both Gordon Brown and the local school).

4. Gordon gives his speech and, er…, doesn’t mention the five or use those quotes at all

Credit to David Laws for spotting this, as reported in today’s Times:

The episode began last Tuesday evening when Downing Street contacted a number of regional papers in Birmingham, Lancashire, Yeovil and

…

More on the allegations about Labour electoral fraud in Birmingham (including paying drug addicts to steal votes) with the start of an election petition trial:

A leading Asian councillor cheated his way back on to Britain’s biggest local council by spreading untrue election-day rumours that an opponent had been arrested for fraud, a court was told yesterday.

Read the full story in The Times.

That’s one of a series of allegations made by BBC’s Newsnight this week. The report includes a series of people talking to camera alleging a range of electoral fraud by Labour, including one drug addict saying he was paid £5 per vote he cast, pretending to be someone else each time.

You can watch the piece here.

From Mansfield Chad: 

A LABOUR candidate who forged a signature on his nomination form in this year’s Mansfield District Council elections has escaped with a fine.

Meden Vale man Vic Jennings, who stood in Warsop’s Birklands ward in May, could have been jailed after admitting a charge of election fraud at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court last Wednesday.

But district judge Michael Wheeler spared him prison after he was told Jennings (53) had made every effort to discourage local people from voting for him when the issue came to light.

The newspaper’s report has more details.

You may have thought that Labour today announced they were going ahead with Crossrail (the cross-London train route), hurrah all round.

Now, I’ve already pointed out the little problem Labour have with repeatedly making the same Crossrail announcement. But there’s another problem too.

You see, if you look into the details today’s announcement was for construction work to start in 2010 whilst after their last announcement that they were going ahead with the project the construction start date was 2009.

So today really amounted to, “we’re going to do what we already said we were going to do – but we’re …

Headline no.1: “Crossrail link ‘to get go-ahead'”

Headline no.2: “Crossrail gets the green light”

Can you spot the difference? The first was in the run-up to the last general election whilst the second is from today, aka the run up to the next general election.

Nice Labour spin, repeatedly re-announcing their commitment to the very same project don’t you think? Especially as these are by no means the only two occasions when they’ve done it.

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Well, in today’s Telegraph photo of the end of Cameron’s speech there are lots of people clapping, lots of smiles, several people getting to their feet – and there’s one person sat there looking rather glum. Zac Goldsmith do you think?

First it was 2,000 British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq (the figure leaked to the BBC).

Then it was 1,000 (the figure Gordon Brown told the TV cameras earlier today).

Then it was 730 (after it turned out that 270 has already come home).

Then it was 500 (after it came to light that 230 were due to come home anyway under plans announced in July).

And then it was zero (after it turned out the other 500 are currently not in Iraq but in, er…, Germany).