Not content with sticking to gutter politics, Labour have now sunk further into the sewer. Clearly with local elections in mind, the party has taken to stepping up their attack ads, now targeting the Conservative party’s record on sewage. They’re promoting – ie. paying for – targeted local advertising on Facebook and Instagram attacking Tory MPs, many of whom aren’t even in government. Johnny Mercer, Brendan Clarke-Smith, Lee Anderson and Graham Brady were amongst those singled-out. By Guido’s count at least 67 Conservatives are in the splash zone.

What makes Labour’s latest offensive even more dirty is the ads aren’t even true. They started running yesterday and claim “your Tory MP… voted against Labour’s plan to end the Tory sewage scandal”. They even cite the House of Commons Library. The trouble is, Tory MPs didn’t vote against Labour’s sewage plan. In the Commons yesterday, the Conservatives amended Labour’s opposition day motion and successfully passed their own sewage plan. Labour abstained on their own motion.

Labour have clearly forked out significant funds on the ads, so either their campaigns team didn’t want it to go to waste, or they just weren’t plugged into parliamentary events. Sir Robert Goodwill was one of the MPs targeted, he told Guido:

“[the ads] clearly misrepresent what the government is doing on sewage. It clearly misrepresents what Labour did in divisions yesterday. It was the Conservatives who voted for the reduction of sewage discharge.”

This isn’t the way to clean up politics.

UPDATE: Since Guido’s fact check went to pixel this morning, Labour have deactivated their mudslinging campaign.