Liverpool Lib Dems smear Greens and Labour

Liverpool Lib Dems have been caught out propagating completely unfounded allegations about the views of their Green Party rivals over a local regeneration project.

An edition of the Lib Dem's local Focus newsletter about the restoration of a landmark gardens site alleged that Green councillors "called for the plans to be scrapped" and instead "want to build a completely undeliverable eco-village".

As ever, no quote or reference is given by the Lib Dems to back up their claims.

Responding to the smear, Liverpool Greens said that the claims were "completely untrue" and that their councillors were "baffled" as to where the Lib Dems' accusations had come from, publishing their own briefing about the restoration project alongside the offending Focus newsletter.

But compared to previous Lib Dem antics in Liverpool, the Greens could be considered to have got off lightly.

Back in 2008, a leading Lib Dem councillor in the city was caught distributing leaflets purportedly published by another party smearing a local Labour rival and her husband.

According to the Liverpool Echo, Cllr Steve Hurst delivered pink leaflets supposedly from the United Socialist Party (TUSP) claiming Labour Cllr Pauline Walton left meetings early "to go lap dancing" and her fireman husband Keith was a "scab" during firefighters' strikes.

The court heard that Hurst, wearing dark glasses and a baseball cap, had been accosted while delivering the leaflets by Mr Walton and his two sons, whereupon a scuffle ensued and Hurst fled, dropping not just some yellow and pink Liberal Democrat leaflets but also the pink supposed TUSP flyers.

On sentencing Cllr Hurst, Judge Richard Clancy said that he thought Hurst's "motives were misconceived".

Hurst was found guilty of breaching election law requiring the source of political information to printed on campaign materials and was fined £500.

According to the Liverpool Daily Post, Cllr Hurst also lost a later appeal against the verdict, at which hearing the judge condemned his activities as "dirty tactics of the worst kind" and said that "This sort of conduct brings considerable discredit on his party and local politicians in general."