Search topics on this blog

Showing posts with label Stewart Stevenson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stewart Stevenson. Show all posts

Sunday 19 December 2010

The English Transport Minister–Philip Hammond

Stewart Stevenson – a good, dedicated Scottish SNP Minister, was forced to resign because of the impact of the worst winter weather in decades – perhaps unprecedented weather conditions – virtually unanticipated by everyone, with warnings coming at the very last minutes.

Now we have chaos in England’s transport system and road network form weather that was well-signalled in advance, with the recent Scottish experience to profit from.

Will the UK Transport Minister be forced to resign?

Lets take a closer look at this man – Philip Hammond. What kind of a man is he?

Here is one aspect of the man - Hammond's tax avoidance

Here is a Wikipedia extract on Philip Hammond - Wikipedia

Philip Hammond received criticism in 2009 when it emerged that he claimed just £8 short of the maximum allowance for a second home in London from 2007 to 2008 – even though he lived in the commuter belt town of Woking.

The Sun columnist Kelvin Mackenzie stated that as Mr Hammond had previously refused to support his opposition to a rise in car parking charges at Weybridge railway station, the revelation about the second home showed that Hammond is "not interested in the downtrodden local motorist". As a result of the criticism Mr Hammond told his local paper that he would pay back any profit he makes on the future sale of his second home to the public purse.

When his expenses were revealed on the internet it emerged that Hammond spends thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money every year on newspapers, and once spent £24 of public money on eight teaspoons.

Clearly an upright, public spirited man, devoted to the service of the public. No one would ever suggest that he should resign over a little snow. After all, he has survived far worse, and remained unscathed.

He is of course, a member of the same party as Annabel Goldie, and the same Coalition Government that Tavish Scott’s party is the junior scapegoat – sorry, partner – in.

Both of these Scottish politicians called shrilly for the head of Stewart Stevenson, in their celebrated roles as members of that failing music hall act known as The Three UK Stooges, the third member of the slapstick team being one Iain Gray, the Holyrood Labour Leader.

Snow in England - but why no demands for resignations? Three Scots on Andrew Marr Show


England gridlocked by snow - snow headlines in Sunday papers - travel paralysed - motorists stranded. But the Andrew Marr Show tries to laugh it off.

Three Scots in a row - Marr, Charles Kennedy and Rory Bremner - all invited to keep the tone light and humorous by Marr. Bremner goes along with it, but Charles Kennedy - ever direct - reminds them of the uncomfortable fact that the Scottish Transport Minister was forced to resign over snow problems.

Andrew Marr moves swiftly on. Serious problems in England, transport disrupted - people may die, but nothing must suggest that the Scottish Unionist Opposition were wrong in their contemptible witch hunt against Stewart Stevenson, and God forbid, that anyone should call for resignations at Westminster.

 That would never do ...