As if the police didn't have enough to do tackling local crime! Now it seems they have to devote resources to dealing with an attempt by local MP Andrew Slaughter to block our referendum.
Let's not forget; this referendum is on an issue that Andrew Slaughter himself promised at the last general election that voters would be consulted about!
According to Greg Hands MP, writing on another blog, Slaughter has reported the I Want a Referendum (IWR) campaign to the Metropolitan Police for breaching the Political Parties Elections & Referendums Act (PPERA).
Purportedly, the complaint relates to the information that should be printed on referendum literature, which could mean it rests on section 126: "Details to appear on referendum material".
If so, Slaughter probably shouldn't have skipped straight to the part of the Act that he thought suited him, perhaps blinded by his evident fury over the initiative. Or he might have first seen section 101 - "Referendums to which this Part [of the Act] applies".
Paragraph (2) (a) of this section states ... "“referendum” means a referendum or other poll held, in pursuance of any provision made by or under an Act of Parliament ..."
The Hammersmith referendum is not being held as a result of an Act of Parliament, but held independently, funded by the IWR campaign. So it seems quite clear that the initiative falls outside the stipulations of the PPERA.
In any case, there's no question whatsoever over who is running the referendum. The literature is clearly marked with the I Want A Referendum campaign logo / web address, so anyone who wishes to see the cross-party support behind the group can check for themselves.
So why doesn't Andrew Slaughter stop wasting people's time in a desperate attempt to prevent local voters being consulted, and simply honour the promise to support a national referendum that he made at the last general election?
Don't forget to cast your vote in the Hammersmith referendum by 25 February, and send him that message!
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