Labour using left wing hate groups to circumvent election spending limits in Stoke

The Labour Party is distributing leaflets in Stoke produced by trade union-backed anti-UKIP hate groups along with their own Labour leaflets.

Social media is awash with pictures of Labour councillors and activists boasting about delivering the leaflets produced and paid for by Hope not Hate and NorSCARF alongside their own to get around election spending limits.

NorSCARF is run by Labour councillor Chris Spence who sits on the same council as Labour's candidate, Gareth Snell and tax dodging Hope not Hate's former general secretary, Ruth Smeeth, is Labour MP for the neighbouring Stoke North constituency. The leaflets are clearly part of Labour's official campaign but you can bet they won't make it onto their expenses return, allowing Labour to spend tens of thousands of pounds more than the legal spending limit.