Tory candidate hits out at "desperate" Labour

Burnley's Tory candidate has branded his Labour opponents who reported him to the police as "desperate".
Paul WhitePaul White
Paul White

Mr Paul White has responded to allegations made by the Labour Party that he contravened electoral law by talking openly about the possible outcome of postal votes in an online interview.

He was reported to the police by Burnley Labour leader Coun. Mark Townsend for allegedly breaching the Representation of the People Act, 1983 Section 66.

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However, the Pendle councillor who is hoping to become Burnley's first Conservative MP in more than a century said the police had more important things to deal with.

He said: "This is a desperate, last ditch attempt to prevent the Labour Party from an embarrassing loss in Burnley, which they thought was safe and have taken for granted.

"The Labour Party themselves have admitted that Lib Dem support has collapsed. We know it from the thousands of people we've spoken to, from the polls, and the fact that Lib Dem members have told us so. We also know that thousands of Labour supporters are deserting them for me because of Jeremy Corbyn.

"The police have not contacted me. They have much more important things to deal with at the moment than having their time wasted by Julie Cooper's desperate team."

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Coun. Townsend said: "It is disappointing that the Tory candidate treats electoral law so lightly and believes it should be ignored by the police. Election laws are there to protect the integrity of elections his attitude is a disgrace."

Lancashire Police confirmed to the Burnley Express they had been made aware of the complaint and are currently looking into it to assess whether any criminal offences have been committed.

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