Tory sleaze embarrassment affects all politicians, says Labour

Even the people who have been happy to turn a blind eye to Tory sleaze have been shocked by their behaviour last week, say Northumberland Labour.

Northumberland Labour leader Scott Dickinson said: “The government’s attempts to re-write the rules on standards in public life just show the contempt they show for democracy in this country.

“It beggars belief that the government threatened to withdraw funding from the constituencies of MPs who voted against its plans. Imagine this, you’re a newly elected Tory MP, you’re unhappy about the depths to which the Tory party has sunk and you know you will find it impossible to justify it to your constituents. However if you vote against it, it could mean cuts in funding for your local hospital or school. That sounds like bribery in my book. It’s shocking.

“After winning the vote, the government had to do yet another u-turn because of the backlash from MPs in its own party.

“Northumberland Labour was delighted that Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery came out and said ‘not in his name’. He distanced himself from the dreadful behaviour of Tory MPs who really should have known better than to support this appalling idea.

“Now we’re hearing that the Tories want ‘cross party talks’ to re-write the rules on standards in public life. This smacks of sharing the blame for what is simply Tory bad behaviour.

“The sad fact is that behaviour like this damages the public’s trust in all politicians, not just Tory politicians.

“Labour pledges to bring in an Office of Value for Money and much greater transparency on how the public’s money is spent.”