Not helping

"Here are some of the things you can do right now to make a difference," says Labour's website. "1. Register for a postal vote ..." Conservatives.com is little better, urging visitors to "ask your local Conservative association to send your signed form to the council on your behalf." Perfectly legal, of course - but a practice that the Electoral Commission recommended should end in a 2004 report that Michael Howard says the government should have acted upon.