Francis Maude, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, has highlighted how the Government advertising bill has hit its record level ahead of the General Election.
Central Government advertising in January 2010 was the highest ever January on record, burning through a massive £30 million of taxpayers’ cash in that month alone.
"The trade union barons can’t stuff enough money into Labour’s pockets, so Labour Ministers are ripping off taxpayers’ instead", Maude said. "This has all the hallmarks of a banana republic, trying to buy the election by abusing public funds.
"Labour Ministers have refused to publish details of the advertising and marketing campaigns that are being run at taxpayers’ expense in the run up to the General Election – pledging only to release the data in annual accounts in August 2010.
The Government unconvincingly maintain that it would incur "disproportionate cost" to release the details of the Central Office of Information's current campaigns.
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Highest ever January government ad spend: Figures obtained by the Conservatives reveal that Government advertising hit £30 million in January 2010, the highest January on record. Similarly, October, November and December 2009 saw the biggest ever spend for their respective months on record. This is despite Gordon Brown pledging ‘the end of spin’.
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Massive increase before election: In both the last two general elections, advertising has shot up in the run up to the campaign election. Parliamentary Questions have revealed that there is no guidance on state advertising in the run up to elections, only directly in the general election period itself. These figures show that Labour Ministers are massively hiking spending yet again.
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Sham Government pledge to cut spending: The Government pledged to cut spending on communications by 25% in December’s Pre-Budget Report. However, it has now revealed that this is actually a target to be delivered by 2012-13 compared to a 2009-10 baseline. This perversely makes it easier for the Government to meet the target after the election. In his first two years, Gordon Brown has increased advertising spending by 50% compared to Tony Blair’s last year.
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Controversial spin spending: Advertising in 2009 included £12m on the controversial "Act on CO2" campaign, referred to the Advertising Standards Authority for exaggerated claims; £2.4m on the "policing pledge" at a time when many police forces are having to cut police officers; and tens of millions spent on "generic" campaigns like the ‘Building Britain’s Future’ brand, which the Labour Party has adopted as its own campaign.
"The fact that you can’t escape Government advertising when you switch on the radio tells you how Gordon Brown’s pledge to end the culture of spin is an utter sham", Maude added.
"The Conservatives will cut back this state spin bill, proving how we can save money whilst protecting frontline services like the NHS", he pledged.