Fair enough and I will repost the questions I have already posted twice and as yet still not had an answer to,


Do YOU want to "see all allegations of electoral fraud investigated rigorously no matter who is being accused,?" or do you think some parties should get a free 'pass'? especially ones whose name begins with 'Con' and ends with 'ives'?


I can't help noticing that a thread on such an important issue has (at time of writing) not even managed to limp to 2 pages, I wonder how many it would be if it was Labour being investigated? we would, I am sure, be knee deep in sneers and abuse and several pages in by now.

But apparently accusations of electoral fraud involving 24 Tory MPs, with the electoral commission, police, and the CPS getting involved, are not even remotely as 'important as one Labour MP getting suspended for allegations of anti Semitism, and another for an allegation of bringing his party into disrepute,
judging by the almost total silence by the BBC news on the issue, and the almost instant resort to the "whataboutery" that I find myself so often accused of, (when it suits)
apparently "whataboutery" is an exclusive Labour problem too, just like racism and allegations of electoral wrong doings.

Doing it once could be an accident, doing it 24 times means very bad luck or something less random.

Quick scout around my work place - most have heard of the 'anti-semitism' story.
Only I and one other (also a politics nerd) has heard of the Tory electoral fraud, which is actually a criminal allegation.

Unbelievable how much this story is being suppressed.

Campaign expense irregularities, erroneously listed accounts, incorrectly completed forms?

Surely e.g. "dodgy tory campaign accounts" would be better than something that implied vote-rigging which had people looking and then thinking "oh dodgy accounts, big deal, everyone does that" and then clicking on "7 shocking secrets of synthetic carpets and door handles" because they just couldn't help themselves.

There isn't much under "election fraud" except a quote from Carswell and if social media had really been in 'meltdown' then even I might have seen some sign of it.

People's first assumption is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fraud

I think that is a good point. Just imagine if the allegations about Road-Trip were against the Labour Party and not against the Mystery Tours organised by Lord Feldman.

The source said: "All she remembers is that she woke up naked and doesn't remember getting undressed." The Telegraph was unable to reach the MP involved in the claims last night.
It comes as police consider action over sex, drugs, bullying and blackmail allegations that threaten to engulf the party.
The complaint was made to Simon Mort, a senior CCHQ member also charged with handling a dossier of bullying allegations against Mr Clarke.
Another MP has threatened an injunction against The Telegraph after a whistleblower claimed he attended parties where young men and women were encouraged to sleep with MPs.
He was named as one of five MPs who were "always in attendance" during sleazy encounters with young female and male activists.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...t-with-MP.html

From the link given it seems that 22 years old is considered shockingly young.


e2a: There's more than enough fodder with actual facts in it without needing anything added. No need to gild the lily. A phrase I had originally thought was a multi-purpose euphemism.

It's just lucky they didn't paint the bus pink, that would have generated 20 or 30 pages of comment! Oh no, that was Labour doing something trivial, not the Conservatives possibly committing a criminal act.

I find it incredible that some are still insisting there is no anti Labour bias in most of the mainstream media, I wonder if this would have ever got any attention in the media at all if not for the determination of a handful of people at channel 4?

I am not for one second playing down accusations of racism against one Labour MP, and strong believe that all and any such accusations should be fully investigated regardless of the party involved,
But the subject of this thread is serious allegations against twenty four Tory MPs which have seen the electoral commission, the police, and the CPS involved,

now, regardless of whether any charges or convictions are forthcoming, it is perfectly reasonable to ask why this has not been given anywhere NEAR the same amount of coverage or negative attention in the media as has the suspension of one Labour MP?

I can't recall a clearer example of blatant media bias against one major political party in the run up to elections, and yet some Tory supporters prefer to play it down and to make sarcastic comments against those expressing concern about what is happening in our media.

Where did I defend electoral fraud? Looking at Labours record alongside that of the Tories is not the same as defending the Tories. Unless you think Labours record is worse?


Sorry I was rendered temporarily catatonic by Jols' newfound commitment to bipartisanship.

Here you go.


You would imagine correctly, I look forward to your contribution next time Labour get caught with sticky fingers in the ballot box, again.

AH so saying "apparently" renders it unnecessary for you to provide an example of someone saying the thing you claim is "apparent" fair enough then "apparently" it's perfectly acceptable for the Tory party to constantly lie, to hate the poor, the sick and the disabled.

The only media left with some clout is the BBC - On the whole Newspapers are dead and have killed their audience by not have a free web presence.

The BBC is Labour Bias - Therefore IMHO the mainstream media is biased towards labour.

A case could be made for Sky News balancing out the BBC but I dont see any anti labour bias in most mainstream media.

I knew you would catch on.


They seem to think so, perhaps you should take that up with someone who thinks there is a distinction between how Labour and the Tories behave?

ETA:Oh yeah, since we are chasing each other for responses perhaps you could get round to addressing this?

According to Channel 4 News when they were doing their update on the story it seems the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

The police had a meeting with the Electoral Commission. The Electoral commission are the ones who have the "evidence" most of which has not been passed to the police. The police are the ones that have to go to court to get an extension to the 12 months period in which prosecutions \ charges should be made. As they don't have the evidence they don't know how to apply for an extension because if they make it vague it will be thrown out but if they name the MPs and nothing comes of the case then it leaves them open to all sorts of charges and allegations.

I got the impression from what Channel 4 were saying that the police don't want to touch this with a barge pole. (That's a personal opinion only not claiming it as fact).

It's corrupt.

The rule is there for good reason.
If you break the rule then you don't care about the values and principles which are supposed to be part of the foundations which support a democratic framework.

Done.

Thank you.

I agree, and it cuts both ways.

Neither side gives a flying one about democracy, if they did we wouldn't be lumbered with FPTP.

But.. but.. The 'battle buses' were sekretly stuffed with ballot papers, and toured the polling stations, where large boxes were seen to be moved.

Or not. But must be slow news day. I understood it the way you did, ie an adminstrative thing & the costs were declared. It also seems to make sense for it to be a central cost. But political opponents presumably think it's more efficient to calculate cost per mile, and then allocate costs to the constituencies it's travelling to, from, or just passing through.

I guess there should be a full, judicial led, independent public inquiry into this latest scandal!

Could it be this?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-spending.html

Nope, I think it's probably this

MPs launch inquiry into minister's interference in public poll

Finally some suggestion that the will of the people must be followed

I most definitely agree with you. I believe that both of the main parties are failing us.

YAY!!!

The day after the polls close, Radio 4's Today Program mentions the Tory over spending story!!!

Umm...admin error, anyone?

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-05-06/l...der-tory-pile/


"Tory Pile" - I thought they were talking about Saltwood Castle for a moment, there...

Yes, admin error.

Wow!

Second mention at 7:40. Amazing how this is now on the agenda after the polls have closed.