The Labour Party has been accused of giving its parliamentary candidates lessons in smearing their political opponents.

Around 60 prospective parliamentary candidates attended an awayday in Nottinghamshire last weekend and were given a seminar on media training, which several sources claim involved a discussion on how to sabotage their rivals.

One attendee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “We were told that it was all right to make up stories about our Tory opponents even if they were on the edge of legality. We were basically told we could say what we liked about them as long as it was on the right side of the law.

“I was quite surprised, to say the least, and this certainly isn’t the way the party has