Westminster taxpayers to spend £500,000 on "Tory propaganda" (Westminster and City of London Liberal Democrats)

Westminster and City of London Liberal Democrats <info@westminsterlibdems.org.uk>

Westminster taxpayers to spend £500,000 on "Tory propaganda"

April 17, 2007 12:43 PM

Official figures confirm that during the four-year lifetime of the current Council, Westminster taxpayers will be forced to pay £500,000 on 'Westminster Reporter', the magazine that local LibDems are condemning as "pro-Conservative propaganda".

'Westminster Reporter' is the magazine produced by the Council six times per year. A total of 125,000 copies of each issue are distributed to Westminster residents and Council staff.

The figures reveal that over the four years that separate elections to the Council, printing the magazine will cost a total of £278,400. A further £144,000 will be spent on distributing the three million copies that will be printed. Between £72,000 and £117,600 will be spent on design costs, with a further £3,600 on photography. In total, 24 issues will be printed over the four years.

LibDem candidate in the Abbey Road ward by-election, Mark Blackburn, extracted the costings from the Council using the Freedom of Information Act.

Local Liberal Democrats are condemning the publication as "pro-Conservative propaganda" because of untrue boasts about Westminster's Council Tax in the latest issue.

Commenting, LibDem by-election candidate Mark Blackburn, said:

"In the current issue of 'Westminster Reporter', the Tories boast that the percentage rise in the local Council Tax is 'among the lowest in the country'. That is simply untrue. Looking at just London, Westminster came 10th out of 32. If you take just inner London councils then they came 6th out of 13. And that is just London. Their claim is that they are among the lowest in the entire country!

Inside the magazine there is a big photo of the St John's Wood High Street sign and lots about a facelift it was given last year. That's convenient for the Conservatives when, on 3rd May, there will be a by-election in the ward that starts at the end of that street!"

He continued, "I am certainly not saying that there is no place for a Council newsletter or magazine for residents, but such a magazine needs to be non-party political. What we do not need is taxpayers' money spent on distorted propaganda favouring the ruling party.

"People are compelled to pay their taxes. It is not a matter of choice. Half a million pounds of taxpayers' money should be spent wisely, and not on blatantly pro-Conservative propaganda like this."