No news is Purdah

If you were wondering why news seemed to stop during the last days of the general election, it's because of a little-known convention known as 'Election Purdah'. Applied by and to the civil service, it states:

"It is customary for Ministers to observe discretion in initiating any new action of a continuing or long-term character. Decisions on matters of policy and other issues such as large and/or contentious procurement contracts on which a new Government might be expected to want the opportunity to take a different view from the present Government should be postponed until after the Election, provided that postponement would not be detrimental to the national interest or wasteful of public money."

Essentially,  there's a news blackout about on-going issues and potential initiatives, which is why the Afghan war received little mention in the final week. It carries no force in law,  but is widely viewed as having a moral imperative.