Ms Haigh serves as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and First Secretary of State, effectively making her Andy Burnham's deputy. The Prime Minister appointed the convicted fraudster to her powerful role, as well as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, after she masterminded his victory in the Makerfield by-election in June. Her position in the higher echelon of Mr Burnham's administration comes less than two years after she was forced to resign from former PM Keir Starmer's Cabinet.
And now we know why he took such a step, so he'd have someone to blame when things went tits up.
Louise Haigh signed off on a nationwide emergency wildfire alert that startled millions of people across the country. Ms Haigh, who is head of the Cabinet Office, is understood to have approved the alert, which led to panicked Britons jamming 999 lines and startled drivers swerving across motorways.
Bullshit! Don't tell me a decision like this never crossed the PM's desk. 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss', as the song goes...
The Conservatives, who devised the system more than a decade ago, said the alert was only intended to be used in cases where there was an imminent, direct and mainly localised threat to life.A Cabinet Office report explicitly warned against its use for 'lower level' incidents for fear of creating a 'cry wolf' effect, in which phone users either disabled or ignored the alert in cases of genuine emergency.
Indeed, I first heard this fot real as I headed out to a restaurant in Edinburgh for a birthday meal, because extremely high winds were predicted - and materialised! - the next day.
The Government had initially considered sending a targeted alert to the areas which were most affected or at risk of wildfires. However, by the afternoon, Ms Haigh's department decided to release the alert across the country following calls from the Fire and Rescue Service, The Telegraph reported.
A request they soon had cause to regret.
But the plea from fire chiefs soon came back to haunt them as emergency switchboards became overloaded by members of the public accusing their neighbours of having a barbecue.
But every cloud has a silver lining for someone:
One unlikely benefit of the disruptive alerts was that dozens of prisoners had their hidden mobile phones seized after the loud noises blared out from inside their cells on Friday evening.
Oh. well.
All governments make mistakes as this country is ungovernable. But this lot seem to be winding people up on purpose-but to what end?
ReplyDeleteA tin-foil hat person might conclude that they are hoping for national unrest so they can clamp down on the mythical "far-right".
Jaded
Do you get a risk of wild fires when it's hot and hasn't rained for months then? We're really so lucky that we have the government to let us know.
ReplyDeleteStonyground.
Was it a yellow bus, and did it only cost £2 to throw her under it?
ReplyDeleteSteven
Perhaps a Labour Cabinet has always been a magazine of sacrifice ammunition ready to be used to deflect blame away from the Dear Leader?
ReplyDeleteLoise Haigh will not have received the alert herself, as the previous owner of her stolen phone had wisely switched it off, like most of us do.
ReplyDeleteJust like children - "Because they could - they did".
ReplyDelete"emergency switchboards became overloaded by members of the public accusing their neighbours of having a barbecue"
ReplyDeleteWe live in a society where people will immediately jump on the phone to the police and grass on their fellow man for doing something as innocent as having a barbecue, just because they have misunderstood something, and think they are now illegal