Today – Thursday 10 April – the Cabinet Office initiated ‘sensitivity‘ rules for the period prior to local elections, seeing as they are exactly three weeks away. The way the government acts must according to the rules be altered because “the activities of the UK Government could have a bearing on the election campaigns… Care also needs to be taken in relation to the announcement of UK Government decisions which could have a bearing on the elections.”
There are four rules Guido took note of this morning when Starmer and Cooper were up in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire for a new “bobbies on the beat” neighbourhood policing announcement:
Starmer made a visit to Huntingdon, in Cambridgeshire, for the announcement. There are two upcoming local elections in that exact location – for the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, and Cambridgeshire’s local election for Huntingdon West. Helpful for Labour…
The announcement was written up and promoted by Labour in a press release, as well as on the party’s social media. It added: “the Prime Minister confirmed that areas such as Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and Somerset are among those that are set to see a surge in officer numbers, in addition to Cambridgeshire Constabulary.” Derbyshire County Council’s elections are on 1 May. East Yorkshire has a mayoral election on 1 May. A party political announcement directly related to local issues during the sensitivity period…
The announcement was promoted by civil servants running Downing Street’s social media as well as by Home Office civil servants. Sticklers for propriety and ethics may take a dim view of Labour’s local caper…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”