Are the Tories using public money to push party slogans?

Michael Dugher, Labour’s Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, has written to Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood raising concerns over the use of Conservative campaign slogans in non-partisan government material, including in Wednesday’s Queen’s Speech.

As the Queen’s Speech is given by the monarch, it should not be used to promote the governing party, but merely lay out the legislative agenda for the coming year. However, Dugher points out that the phrase “long-term plan to build a stronger economy” was used in the first line. “Long-term economic plan” has become the Tories’ most recognisable slogan, appearing no fewer than five times on their homepage (click image to enlarge):

The phrase is creeping into more and more governmental documents, such as this HM Treasury policy paper from January:

The budget for Government external communications over the next year has increased to almost £290 million, and the worry is that the Tories will be using much of this taxpayer money to push their 2015 election slogans.

Dugher said: “I have called for an investigation in to the party political use of government communications to ensure we uphold the integrity and impartiality of the civil service and prevent public funds from being misused.”

You can read his whole letter to the Sir Jeremy Heywood here.