PM accused of wasting taxpayers’ money
Boris Johnson has been accused of misusing taxpayers’ money to target voters in key swing constituencies with Facebook adverts.
At least 17 ads promising up to £ 25million investment in towns across the UK went live on Tuesday – the day the General Election was announced.
The Sunday Mail revealed in March how former Scottish Secretary David Mundell had spent almost £20,000 on social media advertising.
He was accused of turning the taxpayerfunded Scotland Off ice into a “Tory propaganda machine” after we told how he had paid
£ 19,086 to
Fa c eb o ok and Twitter on a departmental procurement card. The money was spent in the run-up to a Brexit vote that Theresa May went on to abandon.
Now the Tories have been criticised for ads placed as part of MyTown, a Government- backed campaign that seeks residents’ views on how to improve their towns.
They ran without a political disclaimer and were taken down by Facebook shortly after 8.30pm on Friday. The ads targeted voters in marginal seats.
Labour MP Ian Lucas has called the campaign an “outrageous” misuse of public funds and written to Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, questioning how much money was spent and how decisions were made over who
to target.
The ads were displayed online when it became clear a December election would take place but before the Government entered purdah – the pre- election period where it must remain neutral.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “In September, we announced the 100 places that would each receive up to £ 25million of funding as part of the £3.6billion towns fund. The Government has always been clear it wants local people to help decide how this money is spent.
“Al l towns selected were chosen according to the same selection methodology, including analysis of deprivation, productivity, economy resilience and investment opportunities.
“The MyTown campaign began on October 25 and has ended in the run-up to the pre-election period.”
Lucas said: “They were put up on the day the Government indicated we would be having a General Election. To say the Government did not know is an insult to our intelligence. This is taxpayers’ money. If the Conservatives want to run a political campaign, they should be doing it themselves with their own money.
“It’s entirely inappropriate to be using public money in this way. They are pretending these are public information ads but they are not.”
Facebook said: “The adverts run by the MyTown page were not correctly labelled as being about social issues. Ads about social issues, elections or politics that appear on our platforms should include a disclaimer provided by advertisers.
“We are working with the advertiser to help them better understand our policies.”