Groups inundate prospective parliamentary candidates for support

3:54pm Thursday 26th April 2001

PROSPECTIVE parliamentary candidates are being snowed under with documents from pressure groups after their support before the general election.

The recent controversy over the refusal by some politicians to sign a pledge written by the Commission for Racial Equality promising not to use race to get votes has highlighted the issue.

Among documents landing on the mat of the Lib Dem PPC for Wycombe, Dee Tomlin, was the South Molton Declaration asking her to sign a certificate pledging opposition to Europe.

She has had queries from Islamic organisations and Friends of the Earth and a phone call from the anti-abortion group Pro Life.

Another was about motorcycles with boxes for her to tick, and she has had others from medical consultants, environmental bodies and Shelter.

Wycombe's Labour PPC Chauhdry Shafique has been sent literature from the British Dental Association and the Disability Alliance. He's had questions about what he thinks about abortion, cloning, genetically modified foods and fox hunting.

"I haven't got time to do all this," he said.

Paul Goodman, the Conservative PPC for Wycombe, has had many of the same, but unlike Dee Tomlin, was able to support the Pro Life group. He has had the South Molton Declaration, the Barnardos Children's Manifesto and one from the Association of University Teachers. He has acknowledged them all.

Labour's PPC in Chesham and Amersham, Ken Hulme, is also doing his best to reply to them all. He has had letters from chartered accountants, been asked to endorse the World Development movement's campaign to eradicate world debt and the campaign for proportional representation.

The PPCs agreed that the document put out by the the Commission for Racial Equality, pledging not to use race to get votes, was something different. The three from Wycombe signed before the party leaders did, and long before it became a hot potato.

They agreed people should sign but that they had the right not to.

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