"Get the votes and we can win, but don't get caught with them". According to a Sunday Times exposé this morning, this was the message to Labour Party student volunteers in the car park of a boarded-up pub in Leeds who were hoping to do their small bit to avert Labour’s predicted electoral meltdown.One of the politicians addressing the group of students was Labour Councillor Graham Hyde, who works as a parliamentary aide to the local MP and staunch Gordon Brown supporter George Mudie. Keith Wakefield, the Labour Group Leader was also present in the car park, underlining the importance of the Gipton and Harehills ward to the party.
The students were told to trawl the surrounding streets collecting postal ballot forms from voters and, if necessary, to help residents to complete their ballots. Hyde warned: "Put the postal vote form out of sight...Don’t get caught with any on you. We are not supposed to collect them." He appeared well aware of the ramifications of what he was suggesting. One of the students told the group he believed that what they were doing was "illegal". Hyde responded: "Yes it is. But we’ve done 25% already, so..."
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A word about evidence. Most of what people think is material evidence of a criminal offence is in fact either hearsay evidence (asserted, but without any proof) or circumstantial evidence (suggests guilt but does not prove it). For an introduction to the subject of evidence, try: