Greg slams Labour publicity stunt

11.23.49pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 8th Jul 2007

Greg Stone, the Lib Dem Candidate in the Sedgefield By-election has accused the Labour Party of 'trying to use their neglect of Newton Aycliffe to boost their campaign'. The run-down town centre has become one of the central issues in the campaign. Labour have launched a "Save our Town Centre" Campaign which is already backfiring with residents refusing to sign their petition. The petition has been distributed in a few shops around their office in Newton Aycliffe and some retailers have refused to get involved.

Greg Stone talks to local residents about the state of the town centre

Greg Stone said, "The point of petitions is to raise controversial issues and demand action. This petition is not addressed to anybody, it doesn't demand any action and quite simply I'd ask what is the point of it? The problems and the neglect of Newton Aycliffe Town Centre are caused by Labour - they run the Council and have had the MP for over 70 years. Even their candidate has admitted the problem in a national newspaper.

"Tony Blair recently wrote to the people of Sedgefield telling them that he had campaigned "for months on this issue" despite being MP for nearly a quarter of a century. I find this campaign to be hypocritical - who will they send the information to? The Labour Government or the Labour Council? They have had decades to sort this out but they have failed and the people of Sedgefield will not fall for this. Labour are taking residents for fools.

"Residents are getting sick of Labour and the Conservatives talking their town down. I have enjoyed speaking to local residents who really look after their houses. Their Town Centre was a huge issue in the local elections in May and Labour still didn't get the message when the Labour Leader of Sedgefield Council lost his seat. Residents want real commitment not gimmicks. I can only come to the conclusion that that this is a smokescreen to hide Labour's failings."

Greg has now issued a challenge to the Labour Party in this hotly contested by-election. "Stop the spinning and start defending your record - It's time to put up or shut up!"