Brown accused of 'bribing Glasgow voters' with duty freeze

Gordon Brown was desperately fending off damaging charges last night that he had attempted to bribe voters in the Glasgow East constituency by announcing a fuel duty freeze only a week ahead of the by-election.

The accusations yesterday, from both Alex Salmond and David Cameron, came as the issue overshadowed all others in the campaign. A further indication of Labour's growing unease about the election emerged when The Times established that Cabinet ministers had taken the unusual step of telephoning voters in Glasgow East directly to plead for their support.

The involvement of senior members of Mr Brown's team in direct canvassing of the Glasgow East electorate served to reinforce the widespread view that the outcome could be vital to Gordon Brown's political future. It also underlines the private opinions of both Labour and SNP insiders that the contest in Glasgow East is now too close to call.

With only a week to go before the vote, Mr Brown denied in the Commons that the decision to postpone the 2p rise in fuel duty scheduled for October was a “political bribe” aimed at undecided voters in Glasgow East.

The move on fuel duty by Alistair Darling took Westminster by surprise. Although a U-turn by the Government had been widely predicted, it was thought that it would be delayed until later in the summer.

The Prime Minister has maintained that the Government's motivation was to help people facing high food and fuel bills; however, the decision prompted Mr Salmond, the Scottish First Minister and SNP leader, to claim that the prospect of a Labour defeat in Glasgow had “concentrated the minds of worried Labour ministers in London wonderfully”. His comments were echoed by Mr Cameron, the Tory leader, who launched a withering attack on Mr Brown, telling him that he was not being “straight” with voters. He added: “The fuel duty had nothing to do with the by-election where it is a massive issue - just as, presumably, the 10p tax U-turn had nothing to do with Crewe & Nantwich; just as the plan to call off the election had nothing to do with the polls.”

Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman, said there was no reason why the Chancellor should have been “stampeded” into making the decision and there was no indication of how it was going to be paid for.

See the full article at The Times