It's war: Slaughter called "liar" by Bailey

It's been simmering for a while but on friday Tory candidate for our Hammersmith constituency at the General Election responded to an attack from Andy Slaughter MP, where he referred to Shaun Bailey as having "no links to Hammersmith" and a "blank CV", by blasting Mr Slaughter as a "liar" and a "serial professional politician".

In an email to supporters on January 15th Andy Slaughter MP says this:

"At home. By which I mean Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush.  I say that for the avoidance of doubt, having lived here for all my 49 years, and to prevent confusion with the Tory candidate.  Someone gave me a letter from him this week which contained the following homily:

‘Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush are great places to live and work.  I know because I grew up here and many of my family and friends are still here’

The first sentence is true.  The second is not.  Please don’t blame him, send your complaints to his PR people, Mr Bailey doesn’t have time to read all his stuff.  Of course, were the claim true, you might ask, “If it’s so great here why did he leave?”

In response Shaun doesn't hold back. He has this to say about Andy in an email sent to supporters yesterday:

"Last week a Shepherds Bush resident forwarded me an email sent by my Labour opponent in which, among other baseless claims, he states I have 'no links to Hammersmith' and 'an almost blank CV.' Of course he didn't back this with any evidence, and for good reason. My opponent knew he was lying.

I grew up in and around Hammersmith and Fulham borough from the age of four. I went to Henry Compton School. My mum still lives in Shepherds Bush. The charity I co-founded regularly works with many young people and their families from the Shepherds Bush and White City area. I have been and still am involved in many organisations and events all over the borough. If all of these examples don't qualify as links to Hammersmith then I'm not sure what would. All of these things are well documented, quoted in the press and on my own website. Still, my opponent lied to his own supporters in an effort to make himself appear better".

And it doesn't end there. He then goes on to raise parliamentary expenses for good measure:

"To say I have an 'almost blank CV' is an astonishing statement from a man who is a serial professional politician. Whilst he was building up £160 million in debt in Hammersmith that the residents of the borough will have to pay back, he also managed to pay himself more than any other council leader in the country. As Ealing Acton's MP, he then moved on to charging £90 pen nibs to taxpayers. Last July, in a letter to residents, he promised to post his expenses on his website but has failed to do so. In the same letter he said, 'I believe the expenses system needs complete reform to ensure no MP can profit from it,' yet expense records show he claimed between £100 and £250 of petty cash each month - cash given without the need for a receipt. Still, he claims to have some of the cleanest expenses in parliament!"

Ouch. In both cases. While I can understand why Shaun has decided to answer with both barrels by doing so he's probably generated much greater exposure to Andy's original comments that they would otherwise have had. On the question of who is right I will leave you to decide - but get ready for more of this stuff, the gloves appear to have come off, and they've been put in the drawer till May 2nd this year at the earliest.