The First Post gets it "New Labour’s Hurricane Katrina"
In case you think its just me - take a look at today's First Post and Neil Clark's article: ( Quote below)
- "People whose homes have been damaged by the recent floods are entitled to ask where the British government's priorities actually lie. Earlier this year, the Met Office and risk planners in Whitehall warned ministers that due to the so-called El Nino effect, this summer would be much wetter than usual, and there would be a serious risk of flooding. What did the government do? They cut back on spending at the agency which deals with flood prevention."
It is shame that the Conservatives are not making much more of this. All I see and hear on TV is Hillary Benn trying to mislead the public with his slight of hand on Capital budgets ( see last post ).Unfortunately NuLabour have been very good at getting away with things - cash for honours, foot and mouth, farm payments etc.. You have to get your message across fats and broadcast it every way you can before the Hillary Benn's and Yvette Cooper's of this world get into their smudging of the issues and broadcasting the spin NuLabour line.
Update: The BBC has just flashed the news that 350,000 will lose their water supplies within 15 hours !! Hurray for New Labour and their cuts in the Environment agency !
6 comments:
The Tories have just been pathetic. They have redefined the meaning of the word, 'Opposition'.
The open goals that Call me Dave have failed to score with over the past year has been nothing less than a scandalous betrayal of his parliamentary duty.
Supine poodles, the bloody lot of them.
Alfie - I have some sympathy with your comment. I put a comment on Iain Dales site (open thread saying some thing similar - though perhaps a bit more sugar coated.)
Here it is:
Iain - the flooding is a prime example of government failure. Failure to listen to the warnings months in advance, failure to listen to the warning a few days out, failure to learn the lessons of the first floods (too busy crowning Gordon Brown) to help with the second wave.
The problem is we just seem to have Hillary Benn on TV misleading the public with his Capital part of the budget ploy. What is needed is a Conservative spokesman straight afterwards putting this right. Right now it only seems to be John Redwood who is getting his message across in the media.
Politically the goal is open right now - Labour have failed thousands of people who will spend the next year in misery (relative of course to what you've seen in Africa.)
I wish you well on your Journey - but David Cameron should get home quickly.
Todays First Post has the headline "New Labour's Hurricane Katrina". But the Labour spin cycle is in full flight right now - just seen a message that the BBC is happy to pass on about Gordon Brown re announcing more money for flood defences.
Its a massive government failure - and I just don't hear the official Conservative party ( less a few MPs) on TV and radio making the point - maybe the BBC have something to do with that.
I'm sorry to say this. I'm even more sorry for the people without drinking water or power right now.
I couldn,t agree more.I am up to my ass in water here and about to lose power.I have to use a bucket for ablutions for the rest of the week and where is Dave?
We need a full time opposition to bring this Government to account.
We have to start to fight and I dont care if we come across as 'nasty.
Have linked to you on the strength of these last two posts ..
The Conservatives should certainly be trying to make something of the fact that the government was warned about the likelihood of flooding. Brown has promised a "review", whereas Cameron hopes for an "inquiry".
When the going gets tough, the tough indicate their willingness to look into things.
Ken - good luck. Like you I'm waiting for some effective action from the Conservative party. Even when they get the message right they seem not to be able to broadcast it.
Tonight was interviews with David Cameron in Africa asking why he wasn't at home.
DC's plan was fine, but he's failed to react fast enough or make the right judgement call. Its an open goal for the BBC types.
Anyway you've got real problems to worry about - good luck !
Elliot - thanks for the encouragement. I looked over you blog also - looks like the sort of stuff I heartily approve of - so have linked also ! Lets hope we can get some fight back into the centre right.
Where's Dave?
Cameron was in West Oxfordshire for three days looking at the floods, talking to people, and asking what went wrong. He got little if any media coverage. He goes off to Rwanda for two days and that gets the coverage.
Brown flew in, did some photo ops, and left and he got hours of coverage.
Poor old Ming has been totally ignored.
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