JAMES BROKENSHIRE MP is the name
Prophetic?
Is there anything prophetic in the name of
the Minister for local government, Broken Shire?
Searching his profile to assess his
knowledge of Local Government the only thing that seems to be going for him is
his obvious knowledge and interest in the South East. Before being selected for
the safe seat of Old Bexley and Sidcup he tried to be selected for Witham,
Hornchurch and Upminster, Gillingham and Raynham, Grantham and Stamford, North
East Cambridgeshire and Maidstone and the Wold. This led to a local independent candidate
describing him as a serial Carpetbagger.
He was first elected by defeating a Labour
MP by 480 votes on the back of a campaign to save the local A&E (note the cynicism
that for this conservative worked). It didn’t work in saving the A&E
though, it closed.
AS Secretary of State for Crime Reduction
his first action was to close the United Kingdom Forensic Science Service
handing the job to the private sector. I have found no assessment of his success
in “Reducing Crime”
In
2012 he claimed the Olympic Games would be a great success because of the Governments
Security measures, remember Group 4.
He served as Minister for Security and Immigration
from 2014 to 2016, we all know how this service covered itself in glory but he
was seen as a great supporter of TM. His appointment as Northern Ireland Secretary
in 2016 led to his resignation on ill health grounds in 2018 amid a great deal
of controversy over claims of bias and insensitivity. (After
a month he declared himself cured)
WE can only hope that despite the evidence
he has some understanding of Local Government and that he understands that some
people live in the North of England or indeed let’s hope he knows the North of
England exists.
