Friday, April 29, 2005
Dirty tricks and character assassinations
I do not suppose it is my place to comment on this but the article in today's Western Mail about dirty tricks polluting politics is interesting nevertheless. Dr Richard Wyn Jones, head of the Institute of Welsh Politics at Aberystwyth University, has alleged that dirty tricks and character assassinations have reached "unprecedented" levels in this election and the Conservatives are to blame for "leading the political debate down the drain".
He accused the Tories of "coarsening debate" to the point where it threatens the "fabric of democratic life".
Assembly Tory group leader Nick Bourne insisted it was Labour that was guilty of running a campaign of "smear and fear", but Welsh Labour said it had caught out the Conservatives misleading voters on asylum and rates of hospital infections.
There is no doubt that the temperature of the debate this time is very much higher and that many voters are being turned off by its very personal nature. The problem is that the more political parties look to America for examples the worse it gets. Perhaps we all need to calm down a bit and concentrate on the issues instead.
He accused the Tories of "coarsening debate" to the point where it threatens the "fabric of democratic life".
Assembly Tory group leader Nick Bourne insisted it was Labour that was guilty of running a campaign of "smear and fear", but Welsh Labour said it had caught out the Conservatives misleading voters on asylum and rates of hospital infections.
There is no doubt that the temperature of the debate this time is very much higher and that many voters are being turned off by its very personal nature. The problem is that the more political parties look to America for examples the worse it gets. Perhaps we all need to calm down a bit and concentrate on the issues instead.
