Labour reports Tory election leaflet to prosecutors

Labour has called for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to investigate whether a leaflet by the Tories' London mayoral candidate breached electoral law.

Lawyers for the party have written to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Stephen Parkinson, after Susan Hall's campaign sent yellow and black leaflets in the style of a penalty charge notice.

Labour said the leaflets were designed to look like penalty charge notices "to lure voters into opening them", while inside they contained claims Sadiq Khan was planning to introduce a pay-per-mile scheme for drivers - which the party says he has ruled out.

In response, a spokesperson for Ms Hall said the letter to the CPS was "desperate nonsense from Sadiq Khan's campaign" repeating their claim that Mr Khan intended to introduce the scheme if he was re-elected.

The CPS, which does not investigate alleged offences but can refer them to the relevant police force, is understood to be considering the letter.

In their letter, Labour's lawyers asked the DPP to investigate whether the leaflets had been properly labelled as political advertising, leading voters to fear "financial loss" by voting for Mr Khan.

The letter claimed that the leaflets had been distributed "in an envelope that closely resembles that which would ordinarily contain a fixed penalty notice for driving offences".

Ms Hall's campaign told BBC News the election material was sent out only as a double-sided leaflet whiched contained the required imprint identifying it as campaign literature, as required by the Electoral Commission.

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Labour MP Karen Buck, who chairs Mr Khan's campaign, said: "These tactics are legally questionable and certainly mark another low in this desperate Tory campaign characterised by dirty tactics and lies.

"Sadiq has ruled out ever bringing in pay per mile as long as he's mayor - no ifs, no buts."

Labour added that Mr Khan's campaign, along with those of the Green Party and Liberal Democrat candidates, had signed up to the Reform Political Advertising Code.

The code commits parties to "make every reasonable effort not to mislead voters" and "ensure that factual claims are accurate according to recognised sources".

Reform Political Advertising confirmed that Mr Khan's campaign had signed up to the code, while Ms Hall's had been approached by the group but not responded.

A spokesperson for Ms Hall said: "It's a plan he's so proud of, he gloated about in his book and has legally committed Transport for London to deliver.

"Londoners will see through this; Sadiq Khan's record of dishonesty speaks for itself."

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