Councillor Steve Tierney recently tweeted, erroneously, during the Staithe Ward by-election that Labour had indulged in smear campaigning and that such tactics were a “race to the bottom”.

Sadly it seems that Cllr Tierney’s tweets are not read by Mr Cameron or he studiously ignores what Cllr Tierney writes.

National media claim the Prime Minister fired the first salvo of what Conservatives have privately dubbed Project Islington, to smear the newly elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

According to reports, an army of Tory staffers have spent the summer compiling a secret dossier on the Islington North MP, sneaking into campaign events, poring over his parliamentary records and searching archives at Islington Council.

A Tory source told the Daily Mirror that Project Islington was dreamed up at Conservative Campaign HQ after a shock poll revealed Mr Corbyn’s huge lead in the leadership race.

The PM’s staff trailed Mr Corbyn around the country. One Tory HQ staffer, Mike Wilkinson, fled a Corbyn event red-faced after being outed live on Channel 4 by presenter Michael Crick.

Ironically, during the Labour leadership campaign it was Mr Corbyn that refused to indulge in smear politics, demanding supporters follow his lead and proclaiming a new style of politics.

If Cllr Tierney is genuinely committed to ending smear politics he should join the Corbyn Collective and become a member of the Labour Party.

SUE DOCKETT

Wisbech