The leaders of four opposition parties in Liverpool have united to condemn election leaflets from the Labour Party that they have described as 'cynical, dishonest and shameful.'
The joint statement from the city's Liberal Democrats, Greens, Liberals and the Liverpool Community Independents comes after the ruling group put out a leaflet in the Garston ward with an aggressive attack on Community Independents councillor and candidate Sam Gorst.
As the ECHO reported yesterday (Thursday), the leaflets, which are branded as Garston Residents News and not immediately clearly from the Labour Party, included headlines of 'Sickening' and 'Independent Candidate's Record of Shame.'
The leaflet refers to historic social media posts from Cllr Gorst in which he reportedly referred to Queen Elizabeth II as a 'useless b****' and another in which he reportedly described former Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger as a 'hideous traitor.'
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The election leaflet also includes accusations about Cllr Gorst's housing situation, claiming he was given a new home in Garston after just eight months on the South Liverpool Homes waiting list, when the average wait is four years. Cllr Gorst's group described this allegation as 'false and scurrilous.'
The Community Independents have condemned Labour for what they called 'politics of the gutter,' but Labour responded to say 'the truth hurts' and that they stand by their leaflet.
Today, the four opposition groups have taken the rare step of releasing a combined statement, criticising Labour. They have called on Labour leader Keir Starmer to condemn the leaflet and 'pledge to desist from further fake leaflets, personal attacks and bogus social media accounts.'
Cllr Richard Kemp, the leader of the council's main opposition group, the Liberal Democrats, said: "The way that Labour are trying to trash the reputation of people that oppose them through their own literature and social media totally ignores the fact that they have trashed the reputation of the City as whole through their mismanagement of the Council over the last 13 unlucky years. They should now issue the words that people want to hear. We are sorry for the mess that the council is in and go on to apologise to the people they have maligned and targeted most of whom are not in my Party."
Liberal Party Leader, Steve Radford, said: “It is a totally cowardly way by Labour to attack someone masquerading as a residents news letter or use bogus facebook and twitter accounts.
"As an ardent supporter of our constitutional monarchy I find it deeply offensive the monarchy is being cynically used as a political football in a local election. This election should be about how our communities and city should prosper with honest and considered leadership not smear and sneer."
Green leader Tom Crone added: "Green Party Leader, Tom Crone, said: "After everything that has happened in recent years, Liverpool voters want and expect something better than this from people who aspire to run the city.
"Negative campaigning based on slurs and personal attacks is counterproductive and only serves to turn people away from politics. We have already reported one leaflet which lacks the legal imprint to Merseyside Police.
"We urge others to do the same if they believe electoral law, or any other law, is being broken by the content of election leaflets. We are urgently calling on Labour and all other parties and independent groupings to commit to truthful and positive campaigning from this point on. If they can't do this then they don't deserve your vote on May 4."
Alan Gibbons, the interim leader of the Community Independents has already written to the police over the leaflet. He said: "In the wake of the disgraceful Sunak graphic, Liverpool Labour has chosen to go down the same route, using personal smears to attack opponents. It is time to restate what we expect in a democratic election. Candidates should focus on putting their record in the community to residents and debating policy. Liverpool Labour has tried to drag the election in the gutter. We call on all parties and candidates to reject that toxic culture and conduct a clean, honest and respectful."
In its own response over the leaflet, a Labour spokesperson said: "A Labour Party spokesman said: ‘Every word in this leaflet is factually accurate, so it’s a case of “the truth hurts.”
"The so-called Liverpool Community Independents love mouthing off, but don’t like it when we hold up a mirror to what their candidates say on social media. We think the voters in Garston have a right to know, which is why we’re holding them to account.
"The plain fact is that they have no plan or workable policies for the future of Garston or Liverpool. They are a novelty act and we think the people of this city deserve better than that."
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