Lee Anderson backs out of deal to deliver 48000 Lib Dem leaflets criticising him

15 February 2023 , 16:00

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Baroness Kath Pinnock and Councillor Tim Hallam arrived with the leaflets at Lee Anderson’s constituency office this afternoon

Tory deputy chair Lee Anderson has been accused of “another broken promise”, after backing out of an offer to distribute Lib Dem leaflets criticising him.

The outspoken Ashfield MP tweeted an image of a Lib Dem flyer, featuring his own quotes on the death penalty, food banks and poverty.

“Lib Dems new attack poster,” he wrote last week. “Please drop me 48,000 off and I will deliver them myself in Ashfield.”

So they did.

Baroness Kath Pinnock and Councillor Tim Hallam arrived outside his constituency office this afternoon with several boxes of the leaflets on a trolley.

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But office staff refused to accept the delivery.

Mr Anderson complained he was in Westminster at the time, and wouldn’t be allowed to store them in the local office under election rules.

The Lib Dems said he should have been more specific about where to have them delivered

A Lib Dem source said: “Next time Lee orders 48,000 leaflets from us he should be more specific where wants them delivered"

The leaflets read: “Meet the new Conservative Party Deputy Chairman”.

And next to a beaming photo of Mr Anderson, there are four quotes from the man himself.

“Let’s have nuisance tenants live in tents and pick potatoes,” reads one from November 2019.

Another, from May 2022, recounts when he claimed people who use food banks “can’t cook properly.”

A third from last December, saw him go further in his attacks on people earning significantly less than he does, saying nurses using food banks have got “something wrong with their own finances.”

Staff refused to accept the delivery

Lee Anderson offered to hand the leaflets out himself (Andy Stenning/Daily Express)

The leaflet also includes his quote on the death penalty from this month: “Nobody has ever committed a crime after being executed. 100% success rate.”

A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: “Lee Anderson asked for these leaflets, we delivered them.

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“This will go down as yet another broken promise from a Conservative MP.

“Maybe it turns out Lee Anderson is embarrassed about his views after all?”

They added: “We will now be delivering these across the country, to let Conservative voters know the type of people who are currently leading the party.”

Responding to the Lib Dems on Twitter today, Mr Anderson wrote: “Looks like the Lib Dems have failed again. I am in Westminster and you must know that political leaflets must not be stored in an MPs office?

“This is basic stuff. Surely you know tax payer funded MPs offices should not be used for storing leaflets as it goes against the rules.”

Mikey Smith