The latest news from the British Election hustings
GOLDEN OLDIES OUT FOR LABOUR
Tony Blair took to the campaign trail yesterday, prompting plenty of barbs from Labour’s opponents. A tanned Blair said Labour had “every chance of succeeding” and he joked that being prime minister was a “tough job”.
Tory leader David Cameron sniped that Blair’s appearance would be “very good for the sales of Tango”. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said Blair’s intervention smacked of “some desperation” and he ridiculed Labour for “wheeling out the golden oldies . . . to try to help out Gordon Brown in his hour of need”.
Chaos ensued at the launch of a new Labour poster campaign after the event was interrupted by a car crash close to where 10 cabinet members were assembled.
The car smashed into a bus shelter on a traffic island in Birmingham, just yards from where business secretary Peter Mandelson was speaking.
A broadcaster cheekily asked if the crash was a metaphor for Labour’s election campaign.
One can only imagine the withering glance which accompanied Mandelson’s curt reply: “No.”
CLEGG APOLOGISES FOR NUTTERS JIBE
Nick Clegg has apologised for using the word “nutters” in the second leaders debate. The Lib Dem leader wrote to a mental health charity to say that the word, which he used to describe Tory allies in the European parliament, was inappropriate.
“I am acutely aware that the stigma of mental health causes great distress to many people and my use of language that could be considered derogatory was entirely unintentional,” he said.
Clegg stopped off at the World Snooker Championships in Sheffield yesterday in the hope of winning over some supporters in the snooker fraternity.
It seems he couldn’t resist all the obvious puns. “I was thinking ‘what can I say? Brown being snookered, the reds are going down the hole’ – and then I realised the blue is worth more than the yellow so I thought I would stop,” he told reporters afterwards.
Clegg’s party seems to have the won the approval of Muslim voters, according to a survey by YouElect, an organisation which aims to encourage political engagement within Britain’s Muslim community.
Its poll found that 32 per cent of Muslims think Clegg would make the most effective prime minister, compared with 17 per cent who named Gordon Brown and 6 per cent who plumped for David Cameron.
TORY MILLIONAIRE DONATES TO CHARITY
Shadow climate change minister Greg Barker has donated at least £10,000 to charity to offset profits on a taxpayer-funded second home.
Mr Barker, a close ally of David Cameron, confirmed that he had followed through on a pledge he made last year to give a “five figure” sum.
The millionaire, who is standing for re-election in Bexhill and Battle, was heavily criticised when it emerged he had made a paper profit of £320,000 when selling the Belgravia cottage.