WE are more than two years away from the next general election, but the knives are already out and very much facing both ways in Worcester.

This week saw the announcement that accident and emergency services at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch could be downgraded as part of a health shake-up across Worcestershire.

Instead, A&E at Worcestershire Royal will be beefed up so it can handle major emergencies from across the county, including strokes and major traumas.

Worcester MP Robin Walker has been conspicuous by his absence on this issue, insisting all along it was right to allow the review to unfold without finger-wagging his concerns to doctors, health chiefs et al.

That tactic left a gaping vacuum for political rivals to fill, and judging by the last few months, Labour’s Worcester parliamentary candidate Councillor Joy Squires didn’t need any nudge.

A letter to the Worcester News last August from Coun Squires screamed how the “closure” of A&E in Worcester was a very real threat, saying people in the city “seem to think” the Royal is safe.

And that was followed by another letter in September, in which she revealed her “shock” that Mr Walker had “nothing to say” about it, insisting that “at worst” the A&E in Worcester could close altogether.

It signed off by saying “Robin Walker’s silence is baffling”, adding that other county MPs were prepared to speak out.

Now the cat is out the bag that Worcester’s A&E won’t be closed after all, and boy is the flak flying in the other direction.

Mr Walker has been on the blower to The Source this week saying his foe has “been left looking pretty ludicrous”, that she was “talking utter tripe”, scaremongering and indulging in “opportunism”.

Let the battle commence.

POLICE and crime commissioner Bill Longmore’s own words: “I don’t want to be known as that idiot who closed down all the police stations.” Erm....

TALKING about our PCC, word on the street is that failed Conservative candidate Adrian Blackshaw is considering being a candidate again in 2016. “Put it this way, people have been telling me I should stand again,” he tells me.

A £5,000 upfront fee to stand, months of electioneering, followed by the choice of either closing police stations or cutting jobs for the winner.

Flak everywhere you look, more enemies than friends. Sounds great fun.