Lib Dem gaffe names some Liverpool electors as "nutters"

Liverpool mum Claire Traynor was furious at being named a "nutter"

Liberal Democrats are under fire after canvassers blacklisted electors as "NUTTERS".

The description in bold capital letters was used to head a list of residents that have been placed on a banned list for receiving party newsletters.

But in an embarrassing gaffe for the Lib Dems the blacklist was posted through a letterbox of a neighbour who showed it to one of the people named as a "NUTTER".

Claire Traynor, 32, and her partner were named with four others who live near her Aintree home as blacklisted with the warning: "NUTTERS. Please DO NOT deliver to:"

The Lib Dems insisted the term was not directed at Miss Traynor and her neighbours, claiming it was a long-standing nickname given to the volunteer team who deliver the leaflets.

Mother-of-two Miss Traynor believes her name was added to the blacklist after she was elected to serve on Maghull town council for Labour.
 
She said: "A person who is very close to me has mental health problems so this has really hit a raw nerve.
 
"For them to trot out a poor excuse about it being an in-joke is adding insult to injury.
 
"I have never asked them to take me off the list and I don't believe or accept their explanation.
 
"Even though I am a Labour supporter I have always been interested in reading their leaflets as what they say or do affects my community.
 
"It's really upsetting that they have decided to form an opinion of me based purely on the fact that I do not share their political views."

Sefton Lib Dem leader Cllr Tony Robertson defended the gaff and called the uproar "ridiculous".

Despite the fact that it appears in a 32 point typeface he denied that the word "NUTTERS" was used in an offensive context.

He said: "We are not saying that people on that list are nutters.
 
"Nutters is the name of our delivery group. There are a number of runs that have got that word on it.
 
"We even have a quiz team in Maghull Town Hall called The Nutters and have been calling ourselves that for 20 years.
 
"To try and suggest that we are trying to make fun of people with mental health problems is ridiculous.
 
"If anybody does not want us to deliver to them for whatever reason we do not deliver to them. That list is produced for any run we have got.

"The leaflets are simply not delivered to those people because they were already identified as opposition voters, or requested to not have them delivered."

There were five Labour supporters on the blacklist alongside UKIP supporters Peter and Linda Harper.
 
Linda's mother died of Alzheimer's two days prior to her receiving the document.

She said: "I find the whole thing completely pathetic.
 
"I can imagine that some people would be offended by the term especially given what has happened to my mother but I just think it's ridiculous.
 
"It is quite sad that they have to use that kind of phrase to describe people.
 
"The excuse they have come up with is pathetic."
 
Another man named on the "Nutters" list is UKIP supporter and IT consultant Peter Harper, 45.
 
He said: "I find pathetic that the Lib Dems should indulge in these childish games.
 
"They may think it is a joke but it could be highly offensive to people who are living with mental illness."

Cllr Robertson said the leaflets would now be amended to prevent any future confusion and Miss Traynor is now seeking legal advice.

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