Tories delete every pre-2010 speech and news story from their website in an attempt to rewrite history

Speeches, articles and press releases disappear from Conservatives.com

Web robots used to stop search engines keeping records of pledges

Labour accuses David Cameron of trying to 'delete' broken promises



The Conservatives have deleted everything the party said before the last election from its website to stop people checking if they have broken promises.

A decade of speeches, articles and press releases has been wiped from the archive, with the material also disappearing from search engine results.

The attempt to rewrite digital history appears to be at odds with David Cameron’s pro-transparency declaration that political leaders had to ‘let go of the information that we've guarded so jealously’.

Wiped: Visitors to the Conservative party website will not be able to find any material which predates the 2010 election

Speeches and press statements dating from the year 2000 to May 2010 have also been removed from the Internet Archive which acts as a public record of the internet.

The speech and news archive disappeared at some time after October 5 this year, Computer Weekly magazine reported.

A robot blocker was posted on the site which means search engines and the Internet Archive cannot keep a record of what used to be held there.

As a result the Internet Archive has removed the entire record of speeches and news captured since 8 May 1999.

It includes promises on cutting inheritance, not imposing 'pointless reorganisations' of the NHS and and he pro-environment message 'vote blue, go green'.

For example, users searching for a story on the launch of the 2010 election manifesto after greeted with a message saying: 'The page you are looking for has been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.'



Web robots have been used to block search engines from finding archive material including speeches and news articles dating back to 1999 The revelation is embarrassing because both Mr Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne have highlighted the importance of being open with data online. In 2006 Mr Cameron told Google’s Zeitgeist conference: ‘You've begun the process of democratising the world's information.

'It will take more than David Cameron pressing "delete" to make people forget about his broken promises' Labour MP Sheila Gilmore

‘Democratising is the right word to use because by making more information available to more people, you're giving them more power.’

It is unclear who is responsible for taking the decision to remove the archive at Tory HQ.

Labour MP Sheila Gilmore said: 'The Tories are trying to hide from their own broken promises and failed policy. Rather than owning up to the mess they’re making of the economy and fixing it, they are pretending it hasn't happened.

'This cynical stunt won't fool any family suffering from a cost of living crisis. With hardworking people over £1,600 a year worse off under him, it will take more than David Cameron pressing "delete" to make people forget about his broken promises and failure to stand up for anyone beyond a privileged few.'

Openness: Tory leader David Cameron used to boast to Google that access to information gave voters more 'power'

The loss of the archive comes as the Tory party gears up for the 2015 general election.

Australian trategist Lynton Crosby has been hired full-time in a £500,000 deal to deliver the overall majority to Mr Cameron which eluded him in 2010.

A Conservative spokesman said: 'We’re making sure our website keeps the Conservative Party at the forefront of political campaigning.

