Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Ten pin bowling
The BBC report that junior minister, Tom Watson and Khalid Mahmood, a parliamentary secretary to Home Office Minister Tony McNulty, have resigned over the fact that Tony Blair will not name a day. How many more are to follow has yet to be seen.
Blair described Watson as "disloyal, discourteous and wrong" for signing a round robin letter urging the PM to go. Who would have thought it? Politics really is full of a surprises.
Update: It is now one junior minister and six PPSs. It does seem though that some journalists are having a problem keeping this political excitement in perspective.
On the radio this lunchtime Chris Bryant, the MP for Rhondda and Leighton Andrews, the AM for the same constituency, were being interviewed separately about the proposed closure of the Burberry Factory in Treorchy, with the loss of 340 jobs. When the interviewers tried to get them onto the subject of Blair they understandably took exception. After all in the grand scheme of things the job of one junior Minister pales into insignificance when compared to the livelihood of over 300 people. At times the BBC needs to take a reality check.
Blair described Watson as "disloyal, discourteous and wrong" for signing a round robin letter urging the PM to go. Who would have thought it? Politics really is full of a surprises.
Update: It is now one junior minister and six PPSs. It does seem though that some journalists are having a problem keeping this political excitement in perspective.
On the radio this lunchtime Chris Bryant, the MP for Rhondda and Leighton Andrews, the AM for the same constituency, were being interviewed separately about the proposed closure of the Burberry Factory in Treorchy, with the loss of 340 jobs. When the interviewers tried to get them onto the subject of Blair they understandably took exception. After all in the grand scheme of things the job of one junior Minister pales into insignificance when compared to the livelihood of over 300 people. At times the BBC needs to take a reality check.
