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0750 [0748] [0720] Hrs GMT
London
Friday
16 July 2010
Editor © Muhammad Haque
ZAC Goldsmith campaign expenses allegations [contained in the two reports we are carrying here courtesy of the London PRESS ASSOCIATION and the Daily Mail] are also relevant to the questions on the role of Tower Hamlets 'Returning Officer' over the 6 May 'referendum'.
How can that be?
Easily.
The 'Returning Officer' - a post that is 'usually' allowed to the particular town clerk in post at the time - has been the subject of a number of allegations in Tower Hamlets over the past years.
The particular allegations that we are implying and referring to concern the 6 May 2010 'referendum' held in the East London borough on the question of the constitution of the Tower Hamlets Council. The referendum question was whether to keep the constitutional framework broadly as it is or [as the 'alternative'] to have a 'directly elected' mayor.
The result of that referendum, as bragged of by Andrew Gilligan - a very strange exercise by him, of which more soon – has been the subject of detailed complaints by the NO campaign.
These complaints have been in effect ‘disregarded’ and ‘distorted’ by Kevan Collins, the ‘Returning officer’ for Tower Hamlets.
Whether Collins has been the direct perpetrator of those distortions has not been conclusively established at the time of writing. The matter is being actively investigated and the results will be published here and on associated sites
[To be continued]
Dossier raises questions over millionaire Tory MP Goldsmith's spending during election
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 7:31 AM on 16th July 2010
Assessment: The Electoral Commission will investigate claims against Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith
Westminster watchdog the Electoral Commission has today received a dossier raising questions about campaign spending by multi-millionaire Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith in the May General Election.
An investigation by Channel 4 News and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) highlighted Mr Goldsmith's spending on items such as signs, jackets and leaflets in his successful bid to become MP for Richmond Park in south London.
The report claimed that sums on invoices for the items did not match the amounts which Mr Goldsmith submitted in his declaration to the returning officer as evidence that he had not breached the candidates' spending limit.
An Electoral Commission spokeswoman this evening confirmed that it had received information from the BIJ and would be carrying out an initial assessment of it over the next few days.
It is only after the assessment is completed - usually about five days - that a decision will be taken over whether there is a case requiring an inquiry.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: 'We are confident that the election expenses in question comply to the spirit and letter of election law.'
Mr Goldsmith said: 'We were scrupulous at every stage in ensuring that our election expenses complied absolutely with the letter and the spirit of the rules. If the Electoral Commission looks into it, they will find nothing out of order.'
'We followed precisely the same formula used by MPs and candidates across the country. We were probably even more careful than most, because it was a high-profile campaign in a hotly contested seat, and it was inevitable that we would be examined afterwards.
'Channel 4 have specifically focused on my returns because it guarantees them extra coverage, and not because my returns are any different to anyone else’s.
They have exploited the fact that the rules are complicated, and used that fact to create a wholly misleading dossier to hand in as a "complaint" to the Electoral Commission, and earn still more coverage.
'The channel turned down my offer to come and do a live interview and changed their minds only after I made that fact known to other broadcasters. This is no more than shoddy and sensationalist journalism.'
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