Скачать или смотреть UK: SLEAZE ALLEGATIONS CONTINUE TO OVERSHADOW ELECTION CAMPAIGN

(1 Apr 1997) English/Nat

The allegations of sleaze surrounding Britain's ruling Conservative party continued to overshadow the electoral campaign as it moved up a gear Tuesday.

Prime Minister John Major attempted to steer the campaign away from the sleaze row and on to economic issues with only a month to go until the election.

He described as a "witchhunt" calls for the resignation of some Conservative M-Ps,( members of parliament) accused of taking cash for parliamentary questions.

It might have been April Fools Day in Britain but Prime Minister John Major looked deadly earnest as he took to his tour bus Tuesday -- with his stated aim of taking his message to the people.

With his party consistently around 20 points behind the opposition in opinion polls, Major is increasingly aware of the need to get his message across.

But the first two weeks of his campaign have been bogged down in sex and money scandals.

Allegations that Conservative M-Ps had received cash for tabling parliamentary questions once again made headlines this weekend.

Labour has not squandered a political opportunity -- claiming that the sleaze allegations are evidence that 18 years in government has corrupted the Conservatives.

But Major struck back at a press conference Tuesday morning -- accusing the opposition of orchestrating a witchhunt.

SOUNDBITE:
"I have made it clear from the very outset that these matters must be properly examined while else would I have set up enquiries. Many people criticised me for doing this and said why have you done this, you could have brushed it aside and after a week of parliamentary difficulty and it would all have gone away. I didn't do that and why didn't I do that? Because I happen to care about the reputation of parliament in the short term and in the long term and if, if people have missed behaved then it must be dealt with but I am not going to bow to the witchhunt mentality by saying that anybody who faces unsubstantiated charges must leave public life."
SUPER CAPTION: John Major, British Prime Minister

Major also challenged Blair to go ahead with a first for British politics -- a head-to-head T-V debate.

Labour called off talks about the debate accusing the Conservatives of negotiating in bad faith.

Flanked by Tory defector Alan Howarth, opposition leader Tony Blair claimed that the Conservatives had brought the sleaze scandal on themselves -- by calling a general election before a report into the cash-for-questions affair was published.

SOUNDBITE:
And you know, I think it's important to emphasise we want to campaign on all the other issues in this election -- on education and health and jobs and industry and crime -- but this issue of the conduct of members of parliament, the Conservatives and Mr Major have brought upon themselves. Had they published this report at the end of the parliamentary term all this matter would have been dealt with by now. And it's a classic example of failing to take a lead and as a result of failing to take the lead ending up in a worse situation than the situation you began with.
SUPER CAPTION: Tony Blair, Labour leader

Howarth's presence was a clear statement to wavering Conservative voters.

The former Conservative -- who defected to Labour in 1995 -- has been selected to head a task force aimed at convincing former Conservative voters to swap allegiance.

One Conservative who is unlikely to switch her allegiance, however, is former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher despite claims to the contrary in an April Fool's Day newspaper headline.


Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...