Network Rail has ordered the removal of posters effectively urging voters not to back the Liberal Democrats.

The posters show two clenched fists with the words “liar” spelled out above the knuckles of each and the Liberal Democrat logo above the “i” on the first.

The message beside it does not mention the party by name but carries some of the words in yellow. It reads: “Broken pledges leave a permanent mark ... They pledged to scrap tuition fees. They lied. Vote against the pledge breakers.”



The billboards, on public view on Thursday before their removal overnight, were due to be in place until after polling day, 7 May.

The National Union of Students (NUS) said it had paid £8,000 for space on billboards at London Victoria, Manchester Piccadilly, and Sheffield Central stations to highlight what it sees as the party’s broken 2010 manifesto commitment to scrap tuition fees for undergraduates by 2016. It claimed the posters’ removal amounted to an attempt to “gag” the union.

But Network Rail said it was not allowed to run political messages because it is an arm’s-length public sector body and the posters should not have been approved in the first place by outdoor advertising company JCDecaux.

The wider NUS campaign on the issue, also being advertised through van posters, particularly attacks 21 Lib Dem candidates. They include Nick Clegg, under threat in his Sheffield Hallam constituency, among MPs who subsequently voted to raise tuition fees as part of the coalition government and are standing for election again.



Eight other Lib Dem candidates who were absent or abstained from that vote as MPs and three Conservative candidates who, the NUS says, signed a pre-2010 election pledge then broke it also feature in the union’s website briefing.

The NUS president, Toni Pearce, said the removal of the posters from the stations would not stop its campaign.

“You can delete a billboard image but you can’t erase betrayal. There are a fleet of vans travelling the country right now targeting pledge breaker seats across the country, and will do until May 8”, she said.

“Lies were told. Seats were secured because of them, and we just won’t tolerate it.”

Network Rail said: “As a politically neutral organisation, we do not allow political activity on our stations and this applies to any forms of advertising or campaigning.

“In this instance it’s clear that an error has been made, as the poster should not have been approved for use in our stations,” its statement said. “We will be apologising to the NUS for the misunderstanding and will ensure that they do not have to pay for the display.”

The Lib Dems said the decision to take down the billboards was Network Rail’s and there had been no party request for their removal.

A party spokesman said: “We did not win the election so we could not deliver every policy that we wanted to, especially as we went into government with a party that was determined to raise fees at a time when there was no money. Instead we tried to get the fairest deal we could.”

The system was now fairer than it was under Labour, said the spokesman, adding that though some people would judge the party on what it had not done, “many fair-minded people” would judge it by other achievements including tax cuts for working people, more money for poor children in schools and shared parental leave.

JCDecaux declined to comment.