No cold turkey from politics this Christmas (From Worcester News)

No cold turkey from politics this Christmas

9:02am Friday 16th January 2009

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SO what exactly did our local politicians get up to over Christmas?

While the rest of us were passing the port, tucking into the turkey and generally staggering our way into the new year, our esteemed representatives were left twiddling their thumbs at home with no political meetings to get worked up about.

So bored were they, in fact, they just couldn't help firing off broadsides across the national media to keep themselves amused. First of all, the Sunday Telegraph's letters page features an unlikely appearance from Labour city councillor David Candler, who had a right old rant about veteran BBC journo John Humphrys.

A former hack himself, Coun Candler laid into the “cynical, arrogant and opinionated” Mr Humphrys, with his “synthetic naïvety and patronising attitude”.

Then lo and behold, the very same page also contains a letter from one Michael Foster MP, defending the Labour Party's efforts to reduce poverty.

Excitedly, I rush to the record books – two letters from Worcester's Labour politicians in a single edition of the Torygraph?

Alas, it transpires this letter appears to have come, believe it or not, from a SECOND Michael Foster MP (as if one were not enough!) - the honourable member for Hastings and Rye, no less, who shares his name with our own high-flying minister.

Still, no matter - a quick journey over to the popular Tory website Conservative Home reveals our Tory councillors have also been keeping busy.

An article describing unrest within the Tory party over in Bedford leads one blogger to suggest such matters should perhaps be kept under wraps rather than revealed to the general public.

But the next comment, from one Councillor Francis Lankester – sounding suspiciously like our own city councillor for safer and stronger communities – puts this idea firmly to bed.

“Telling ourselves comforting lies and covering up is a hallmark of our party,” Coun Lankester writes, perhaps a little bluntly.

“It always leads to disaster, because the same mistakes are made time after time.

“Address issues honestly, act, and change - public service and best use of public money deserve nothing less.”

Noble words indeed.

But the pick of the scribblers has to be one Richard Timney, who has apparently been writing a series of letters to the Redditch Advertiser in support of local MP and Home Secretary Jackie Smith.

According to the Daily Mail, Mr Timney's series of letters to the paper somehow failed to mention the crucial fact that he is in fact, erm, married to the home secretary - and that he works as her parliamentary adviser!