Shropshire Star

Five things we have learned this week

Thom Kennedy takes a sideways looks at this week's political happenings . . .

Published
1. A misjudged bit of merchandise can make mugs of us all.

Labour has hit the first bum note of this year's election campaign with the launch of a mug carrying the words: "controls on immigration" and "I'm voting Labour on 7 May". At the time of writing, the party had raked in around £1,880 from the £5 piece of crockery.

But the cost to its early campaign momentum offset any benefit, with former leadership hopeful Diane Abbott leading criticism on Twitter.

"This shameful mug is an embarrassment," she wrote on the site. "But real problem is that immigration controls are one of our 5 pledges at all."

2. An eye-wateringly garish, 25 tonne bus is plainly the vehicle of choice for the discerning political campaigner.

Labour was backed into a corner with accusations of sexism when it started trundling about our motorways in its bright pink number aimed at wooing female voters.

Now, rival parties are rolling out their own six-wheelers.

The Lib Dems unveiled the bright yellow banana bus that will be transporting Nick Clegg around the country – and promptly found it was too large to get round corners in residential areas. The Conservatives revealed their bright blue bus and Ukip its bright purple effort.

3. Where to put your cross? What do the stars say?

Whenever there's an election there will be a raft of celebrities threatening to flee the country if the public votes against their own tastes. In 1997, Frank Bruno and Paul Daniels vowed to leave in the event of a Labour victory. In 1992 it was Phil Collins.

Over the years, everyone from Labour backers Ross Kemp and Tony Robinson to Tories Gary Barlow and Michael Caine have delivered their political insights.

Katie Hopkins was the first such celebrity to declare this time out, and has promised to pack her bags in the event of a Labour triumph.

  • Keep up with all the Shropshire and Mid Wales election news at www.shropshirestar.com/election

4. Once again, we can expect a lot of arguing about numbers this time around.

The Tories started their campaign with a good firm kick to Labour's ribs by claiming the last government's opposition party was planning to raise taxes by more than £3,000.

Labour, however, has called the figures "desperate and made up". It follows plenty of to-and-fro in last week's leadership broadcast with Jeremy Paxman about how many food banks there are in Britain, how public borrowing has changed in the last five years, and how to fund spending plans.

5. In political campaigns, it's always helpful to know you your friends are.

But a Labour advertisement has suggested that the party isn't sure.

It has carried quotes from the bosses of Kelloggs and Siemens in the UK warning against an EU exit, leading some of those companies to publicly distance themselves from support of the party.

While Labour says that its wadvertisement was simply highlighting others who shared in its opinions, bosses holding the party at arm's length didn't look good for Labour's attempts to shore up its reputation in the business world.

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