Ban parliamentary advertising in last 90 days

The Herald has the story of how Labour is flooding the country with taxpayer funded “information kits” on what the Government has done for over 60s.

It has escaped being an election advertisement, because they have been careful not to mention a party’s name. But it is obviously designed to influence voters as it is being circulated after Parliament has been dissolved.

My solution to this is simple. In the 90 days before an election, MPs and parliamentary parties should be unable to spend any of their parliamentary budgets on advertising – except for the most basic stuff such as hours an electorate office is open.

It is important MPs can communicate to their constitutents. But in the final weeks before the election, MPs should not have an unfair advantage over new candidates and be able to bury the electorate in material which doesn’t even count towards their limit.

This is of course what Labour did last time with their illegal pledge card. They have just adopted a more subtle approach this time.