Friday, March 30, 2012
Public Relations disasters
This has been a difficult week politically, and not just for the coalition government. The fuss over VAT on takeway warmed-up pasties was perhaps inevitable, though Laoour's attempts to exploit the issue were way over the top, however the current run on petrol is an own-goal that could have been avoided.
What were Ministers thinking in urging the public to top-up their tanks? There is not even a strike due at present. It is little wonder that, as the Guardian report, Downing Street and the Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude are under fire from Tories, senior Liberal Democrats and motoring organisations. Their view that the government hss created panic petrol buying across Britain seems very justified.
Labour of course responded with a PR disaster of their own, the loss of Bradford West to George Galloway. As has been said elsewhere, if Ed Miliband cannot capitalise on the UK Government's worse week since coming to power by holding onto one of his party's safest seats, then Labour are in more trouble than we thought.
This does not bode well for Labour at the next General Election nor for Ed Miliband's leadership.
What were Ministers thinking in urging the public to top-up their tanks? There is not even a strike due at present. It is little wonder that, as the Guardian report, Downing Street and the Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude are under fire from Tories, senior Liberal Democrats and motoring organisations. Their view that the government hss created panic petrol buying across Britain seems very justified.
Labour of course responded with a PR disaster of their own, the loss of Bradford West to George Galloway. As has been said elsewhere, if Ed Miliband cannot capitalise on the UK Government's worse week since coming to power by holding onto one of his party's safest seats, then Labour are in more trouble than we thought.
This does not bode well for Labour at the next General Election nor for Ed Miliband's leadership.
