LABOUR was last night accused of breaking election rules by announcing a crackdown on Britain’s filthy streets two days before polls open.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed unveiled plans to seize and crush fly-tippers’ vans, and to jail perpetrators for up to five years.
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He declared: “The Government is calling time on fly-tipping.
“I will not stand by while this avalanche of rubbish buries our communities.”
Bin bags, rats and filthy streets have become a major battleground in Thursday’s local elections.
But the Tories demanded the announcement be withdrawn, claiming government resources were used to prop up Labour’s flagging campaign.
Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins said it flouted Civil Service rules banning announcements that address local issues in the run-up to council elections.
She complained to the Cabinet Secretary: “It is a clear, desperate political attempt to distract from the failings of the Labour-run council in Birmingham to clear waste.”
“The egregiousness of this breach is underlined by the tact that there is nothing new announced in the press release; indeed, some of these powers have existed for years.”
On Thursday 1,641 councillors on 23 local authorities will be voted in across England.
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