Defending the forests

My first, and so far only, entry into public political debate:

http://sparksunderland.com/2011/02/02/greens-and-tories-respond-to-forest-plans/
(unsure whether the files are still uploaded)

You can almost tell that the Sunderland Tory councillor interviewed, like so many of his kind, did not really believe in this policy. It was clearly introduced by PR man Cameron in order to be jettisoned and gain facile plaudits - the government is 'listening' to the public et al, ad nauseum.

We now have to be concerned about stopping the wider cuts-agenda; an ideological crusade, rightly identified by coalition cabinet member Vince Cable as 'Maoist' in its unseemly rush to attack the principle of local government and the provision of public services beyond adherence to the profit motive.

For Cameron, Gove and Hilton it is about 'frontloading the pain' in order that we might have tea and crumpets, five years down the line... i.e. Fictitious financial-services derived 'Growth' and tax cuts for Middle England. Grotesque and cynical politics; if we willingly acquiesce to it, we may well even deserve a majority Tory government.