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May 26, 2005updated 22 Nov 2022 3:31pm

Labour stays silent over C4 allegations of dirty tricks

By Press Gazette

The Labour party has refused to comment on allegations of election
dirty tricks levelled by Channel 4’s Dispatches programme on Monday
night.

Undercover reporter Jenny Kleeman worked in Labour’s press
office and reported tactics that included sending stock letters out to
party supporters to be sent to local papers. They then appeared
word-for-word signed by party activists who did not declare their
allegiances.

Despite being sent a list of allegations before
transmission, Labour officials declined to comment, saying they would
need to see the broadcast first.

When asked to comment again this
week by Press Gazette, a Labour spokesman said: “We won’t be commenting
on the programme; we don’t see it as worthy of comment.”

Kleeman
said: “They don’t want to give this programme any publicity by
commenting on it. They’ve just won an election and they know they don’t
have to explain themselves any more.”

The documentary also
revealed that national journalists were prevented from attending some
Labour election events by not being told about them until the last
minute for “security reasons”. She said regional journalists were,
however, tipped off about such events the night before because they
were expected to ask less critical questions on local rather than
national issues.

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