Southport Tory MP facing possible Parliamentary Standards Complaint

The leaflet was circulated to around 40,000 households in the town during the recent local election period and was in parliamentary green and contained no Conservative logo.

Such material usually signifies it is intended to inform residents about the MP’s constituency work and if so paid for out of public funds but it must then be politically impartial. Critics say the leaflet in question, however, carried a clear party political attack against the Labour group in Sefton Council and a series of Tory party spin lines.

Media comments at the time from Tory MP Damien Moore’s staff also appeared to suggest that it was not Tory party funded. The Southport MP’s Labour opponents have repeatedly challenged him over whether public funds were used to pay for the leaflet but no response has been given.

Liz Savage, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Southport, says it’s time that the local MP gave a definitive answer or a complaint would be lodged with the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner:

” This is a reluctant course of action but we have asked time and again without reply whether public funds have been misused on a leaflet that clearly has party political content and was released during an election period? “

” We believe it also breached the purdah convention as it contained a series of pictures of local teachers, seriously compromising their position too. Damien Moore has serious questions to answer on all of this but is simply dodging the matter. “

” It was either publicly funded and as such should be investigated for potential misuse of public funds during an election or it is Tory party funded in which case, why did his staff try to pass it off as non-party political during an election and why did it not carry the Tory logo? Either way, Mr Moore is misleading constituents in our eyes but he cannot remain silent on the issue. “