Labour breaches own law

The Electoral Commission met yesterday to discuss various matters. One of which was Labour's electioneering, another one was a balloon. Labour has been found to have breached the Electoral Finance Act but wont be prosecuted

Are you surprised? At the decision to prosecute, not the breach.

The Electoral Commission, in not referring the breach of the law to the police, is making this law toothless. So will there be consequences if a high spender doesnt register as a third party - like the EPMU, perhaps, who may not be allowed to.

Well, if the Electoral Commission is to use breaches of the law as examples "for the education of party secretaries and financial agents", who knows? The commission says that any similar breaches would be referred to the police, unless they were considered inconsequential to the public interest.

So that means one of two things: this breach is about as inconsequential as light smacking, or Labour is above the law.

One decision the Electoral Commission found tough was consideration of whether a balloon bearing a party logo and website address was an election advertisement. The Commission didn`t know - perhaps because the ballon was a red one. It is referring it to Crown Law. Can you believe it. I wonder if Crown Law will use Annette King's law of common sense?

The commission has already decided whether the EPMU can register as a third party but won't release the decision until next week after it is written up and the EPMU advised.