THE Hartlepool by-election has already become so rancorous that the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats has formally complained to the chairman of the Labour party about dirty tricks.

The two parties are waging a fierce battle in the contest triggered by the departure of Peter Mandelson. Sir Menzies Campbell has taken the unusual step of writing to Ian McCartney asking for Labour’s “personalised and misguided” attacks to stop.

Sir Menzies said it was unacceptable for Labour to accuse their candidate, Jody Dunn, of “making excuses for junkies” just because, as a barrister, she represented them in court.

He said: “This attack has gone beyond what is reasonable, even in a hard-fought by-election.”

Tom Watson, the Labour MP, who has been acting as the campaign manager in Hartlepool, has accused Ms Dunn of being “soft on drugs” because she represented a heroin addict in court four years ago. “How many other junkies has she made excuses for in court?” said Mr Watson.

The Bar Council said barristers have to take whatever case is allocated to them, regardless of their views. “It’s not fair to attack a barrister on the basis of the client they act for. The cab rank rule means that they take the next client allocated to them,” a spokeswoman said.

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