THE ancient electoral offence of “treating”, which bans candidates from bribing voters, is being dusted down by prosecutors after lying unused in law books for a century.

The first allegations of treating to be investigated by the Crown Prosecution Service involve the UK Independence Party (UKIP) providing hot beverages to electors and Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, giving curry to Muslims.

The Representation of the People Act forbids “providing meat, drink, entertainment or provision to any person” for the purpose of corruptly influencing them to vote.

A prosecution source said: “The wording has never been changed. It’s a throwback. Dare I say, we are straight into Blackadder.”

The first allegation centres on the Lincolnshire seat of Boston and Skegness, where drinks were served to voters viewing turgid anti-Europe propaganda during the general election. “The UKIP were encouraging people to sit and watch some sort of video or TV presentation,” a CPS spokesman said. “They had a message they wanted to get across. People were encouraged to come and watch it. When there, it has been alleged they were given excessive amounts of tea and coffee.”

The treats were even hotter in Mr Straw’s Blackburn constituency. He was the star speaker at a rally hosted by the Muslims for Labour movement at a conference centre in the town. After listening to a succession of speeches, guests enjoyed spicy refreshments.

Mr Straw’s agent Sir Bill Taylor said: “I understand there were chapatis, some curry and rice.”

A local Labour source said that this was consistent with local custom. Burnley’s Asians, he said, hail from a “fairly rural area” of the Indian sub-continent where “if you have walked ten miles to see a friend, it’s considered rude not to offer food and drink”.

The Independent Burnley candidate Craig Murray, a former ambassador to Uzbekistan who was recalled after condemning corruption in Tashkent, blew the whistle on Mr Straw.

“The invitations actually said ‘food provided’,” Mr Murray said. “This was a sitdown meal that went on for an hour. It wasn’t a sandwich. There is this law against treating. I can’t think of a more obvious example. It couldn’t be more blatant.”

Treating dates back to the corrupt election practices of the 18th and 19th centuries, satirised in Rowan Atkinson’s Blackadder comedy.

In the opening episode of the third series, Blackadder decides to buy the rotten borough of Dunny-on-the-Wold by “treating” its one voter, a farmer, with bribes of hen food, dog biscuits and cow ointment.

By the mid-19th century, with the extension of the male franchise, candidates became notorious for getting voters drunk with excessive hospitality. The abuse was finally abolished in 1883.

The last prosecution was in Yarmouth in 1906, when an MP was cleared after giving electors whisky. Today, the maximum penalty is two years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine and a five-year ban from holding public office or voting.

The CPS has been asked for advice about 36 alleged offences arising from May’s general and local elections. Three involved postal voting, 11 were other offences and 22 consisted of mere technical breaches such as issuing an election leaflet without a printer’s name.

The UKIP was unapologetic last night. “It’s a storm in a teacup,” Mark Croucher, the director of communications, said.

Lancashire Constabulary said that it would be taking no further action on Mr Straw’s chapatis because “it was such a trivial matter that it was not in the public interest to prosecute”.

I HAVE A CUNNING PLAN

Blackadder: Dunny-on-the-Wold is a tuppenny-ha’penny place. Population: three rather mangy cows, a dachshund named Colin and a small hen in its late forties. Only one actual person lives there, and he is the voter. We must buy Dunny-on-the-Wold at once and thus control the voter. I shall need a thousand pounds.

Prince George: A thousand pounds? I thought . . . it was a “tuppenny ha’penny” place.

Blackadder: The land will cost tuppence-ha’penny, but there are many other factors to be considered: stamp duty, window tax . . . cow ointment — the expenses are endless. The only question is who to choose as MP. What we need is an utter unknown yet someone over whom we have complete power. A man with no mind, with no ideas of his own . . .

(He rings the servant bell. Enter Baldrick)

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