I live in Durham but had reason to visit my mother in a care home in Teesside very recently. Prior to the visit, I called at her house and collected her post. Among it was a “personal message” from Theresa May, printed on paper, and in an envelope, of the same colour as House of Commons notepaper.
My pensioner brother – also a Teessider – has received a similar communication. Both give the appearance of being official government communications. In view of recent fake news and fake videos appearing in the media, do we now have a case of fake government electoral communications? Given Stephen Kinnock’s call for a probe into Tory use of voter data (Observer, 28 May), it would be interesting to examine how widespread the dissemination of this type of Tory communication is and whether it is focused on older voters – more likely to be unquestioning and impressed – or more generally throughout Brexit-voting areas. It raises all sorts of questions as to which voter demographics have been targeted for receipt of this letter and how the targeting information was acquired.
Is it significant that I – a Durham City (Remain majority) resident and pensioner – have not (yet?) received my buff-coloured “personal message”?
Peter Little
Durham
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters
