Mixed Messages
I laughed at the following piece in a recent edition of Private Eye - the UK's best (and only) fortnightly satirical magazine.
"I am looking at planning legislation to make it easier for local authorities to ban not just McDonalds, but those chicken and chip shops that cluster around schools, " Labour's Diane Abbott told the Guardian this month.
I certainly think that as part of Labour's policy review we should make it easier for local authorities to use public health criteria in planning and to stop the proliferation of chicken and chip shops," she added.
Perhaps Abbott should have word with frontbench colleague Sadiq Khan, who is so enamoured of the halal fried chicken chain food chain Chicken Cottage he presented the "Chicken Cottage Award of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement" to the West Hounslow branch at perhaps last year's most glamourous awards ceremony (search YouTube for must see-red carpet footage).
"Chicken Cottage is a British product that's doing a fantastic amount in our own country," the shadow justice secretary told the gathering. "Over the last very difficult period Chicken Cottage has created 1,000 new jobs in our country, added £50 million to the UK's gross domestic produce (sic) and over the next five years will be creating 400 new jobs as well. Here's the beautiful thing ....Long may you have a prosperous future!
Talk about mixed messgaes - and chickens coming home to roost.
