My latest exchange in the Thurrock Gazette

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a letter to the Thurrock Gazette about my local MP’s column (or ignorant diatribe, if you prefer) about why she, in her infinite stupidity, voted to bomb Syria.  Someone took offence at the fact that I had a pop at ol’ Jackie Doyle-(I certainly have my)Price so I thought I’d post her letter defending JD-P along with my reply and the full, uncut version for comparison.

 

 

So Jane Hayward disagrees with my opinion on Jackie Doyle-Price?  Well, that's her prerogative but I do have to take issue with some of her statements.

“The welfare system needed an overhaul” – did it really?  I agree that some work needed to be done on the system but it didn’t need an overhaul, especially the way the Tories have done it.

“Hard-earned tax…handed over to people with no intention of helping themselves or the community” – really?  This is a very narrow and incorrect point of view based on the negative media portrayal of people on benefits and, if you popped your head out of your ivory tower for a moment and worked with some of the people on benefits, you’d realise just how wrong you are.

“Genuine cases of need are respected and helped” – interesting point of view although not exactly up-to-date on your facts.  I suppose the thousands of sick and disabled people who have died due to the welfare changes were respected enough to help them into an early grave.

Yes, the Falklands War (not invasion, as Ms Hayward put it; the Falklands were our territory) was not personally instigated by Thatcher but she made a great deal of personal mileage out of ‘her’ war to improve her waning popularity.  I agree with Ms Hayward on the Iraq debacle but then everyone knows Blair lied to make sure we invaded Iraq illegally.

“Commend Jackie Doyle-Price for her hard work”, etc, blah, blah.  Feel free to commend her, Ms Hayward, but that doesn’t mean that JD-P has worked hard or done anything to help local people.  Actually JD-P has gone out of her way to avoid dealing with her constituents on numerous occasions, ignores and does not represent the views of anyone she disagrees with (which is part of her job whether she likes it or not), has been abusive to at least one of her constituents (to my knowledge) and only ever takes up local issues that get her face plastered all over the local media because otherwise no one would know she exists.

If Jackie Doyle-Price was half the saint Ms Hayward paints her to be, she’d still be a blood-soaked Tory drone with very little to commend her.

Myles Cook (Mr), Argent Street, Grays