Liberal Democrats take up Lee Anderson's poster challenge

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PostersImage source, PA Media
Image caption,

The Liberal Democrats attempted to deliver the posters but the MP's office would not accept them

The Liberal Democrats tried to deliver 48,000 campaign posters to Conservative MP Lee Anderson after he offered to hand them out to voters himself.

The posters were created to highlight what the Lib Dems described as the Tory deputy chairman's "abhorrent" views.

On Twitter, Mr Anderson called for them to be sent his way but his constituency office in Nottinghamshire would not accept them when they arrived on Wednesday.

He said it was against rules to do so.

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The posters carry quotes attributed to the Ashfield MP on food banks and people who use them.

They also highlight comments from an interview in which Mr Anderson backed the return of the death penalty.

His views have drawn criticism from opposition politicians, political pundits and some of his constituents but Mr Anderson insisted they represented the real feelings of people in Ashfield and other "Red Wall" constituencies.

After seeing the poster Mr Anderson tweeted: "Lib Dems new attack poster. Please drop me 48,000 off and I will deliver them myself in Ashfield. #winninghere."

Image source, PA Media
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The Lib Dems said they would deliver the posters themselves instead

Boxes of posters were subsequently delivered to Mr Anderson's office in Sutton-in-Ashfield by Lib Dem campaigners but his staff would not take them.

A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: "Lee Anderson asked for these leaflets, we delivered them.

"This will go down as yet another broken promise from a Conservative MP. Maybe it turns out Lee Anderson is embarrassed about his views after all?

"We will now be delivering these across the country, to let Conservative voters know the type of people who are currently leading the party."

In response, Mr Anderson tweeted: "Looks like the Lib Dems have failed again.

"I am in Westminster and you must know that political leaflets must not be stored in an MP's office.

"This is basic stuff. Surely you know tax payer funded MPs offices should not be used for storing leaflets as it goes against the rules."

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