Government adspend policy shows history repeating itself.(Statistical Data Included)

Governments always gain from maximising adspend and Labour is no different

In the late 80s, an eager young member of the Labour Opposition's front bench team made his mark by attacking the Thatcher government when its advertising budget rocketed to more than 100 million [pounds sterling] a year. Today the boot is on the other foot because the rising Labour star in question was Tony Blair and his Government has now emulated the Tories by pushing the budget up to a record 192 million [pounds sterling].

Labour ministers deny that they are breaching the long-standing Whitehall rules that prevent the Government using taxpayers' money for party political campaigns. They insist that civil servants in COI Communications, the Cabinet Office and individual departments would not allow ministers to cross the line between information and propaganda.

The figures, however, suggest the lines are becoming blurred. According to ACNeilsen MMS, the media monitoring service, the Government spent 62.8 million [pounds sterling] on advertising in the first three months of this year, making it the country's biggest spender by far. At the time, it was an open secret that Blair planned to call an election on 3 May, so it seems a remarkable coincidence that so much of the Government's fire Was concentrated in the pre-election-period.

"The Government's policies and programmes directly affect the lives of millions of people so it has a duty to explain and a right to be heard," a Cabinet Office spokesman said.

"Advertising or other paid means of communication are only used when communication is an essential part of implementing policy or programmes. There are strict rules to ensure they are in no way party political."

The Government insists there were special factors behind the 70 per cent rise from 113.4 million [pounds sterling] in the previous 12 months to 192.4 million [pounds sterling] in the financial year ending in March. During its first two years in power, the Blair administration stuck to the Tories' spending plans, and spent only 59 million [pounds sterling] on ads in its first 12 months.