The election is turning ever nastier in Harrow East.
The Evening Standard’s Ross Lydall reports the battle of words taking place between the Labour and Tory candidates for the constituency.
Lydall describes Labour’s Tony McNulty as an ‘attack dog’ and notes Tory Bob Blackman is a ‘colourful figure who seems to have more enemies [...] than the average politician yet to make it to the national stage’.
Following these pleasantries, Lydall gives both a chance to explain themselves (Nahid Boethe, the Lib Dem’s candidate, is curiously absent).
Blackman tells Lydall: “You don’t do the sort of things I have done in Brent without breaking a few eggs,” then goes on to draw attention to McNulty’s expenses record.
“I don’t believe in taking from the public purse. The company I work for, if you claim expenses, you have got to have a receipt for everything you claim. Why should MPs be any different?”
McNulty hits back, indignantly claiming he didn’t fiddle his expenses.
He protests: “[There were] no duck houses, flipping, capital gains tax. I regard myself as a man of integrity.”
Lydall says this is only a taste of what is to come, so we can look forward to more friendly banter next week.
Update
For a taste of what Harrow people think of both McNulty and Blackman, scroll down to the comment section on Lydall’s post.
One Tim Vines writes: “How was he selected for this marginal seat when he had a leaky & smelly baggage”.
Meanwhile P’doff pensioner rages: “Why is this piece of trash McNulty being allowed to stand again after being found guilty of theft?”
Go on guys, get it out of your system.
The disgust of local residents with McNulty and Blackman seems clear, (who can blame them with McNulty’s expenses and Blackman’s record on Brent Council) but it is a shame the media will not give more coverage to the other candidates on the ballot paper.
Harrow Times is reasonably good, but would like to see more in-depth interviews with Lib Dem, UKIP and Green candidates. The electorate needs a choice and the mainstream media are pretending they do not exist.