Has David Miliband done a Jim Hacker?
Is saving “British Pubs” like saving the “British Sausage”?
We all, I’m sure, remember the great episode of “Yes Minister” when Jim Hacker sought to change the media narrative by launching a campaign to “save the British sausage”.
I just wonder whether Labour leadership front-runner, David Miliband, has found his equivalent with a been a big campaign just launched to save Britain’s pubs which he says are closing at about 40 a week.
Before the election, he notes, Labour’s Minister for Pubs, John Healey, set out plans to help more pubs survive and thrive. “But the Tory-Lib Dem government has failed to appoint a dedicated Pubs Minister.”
He goes on in a pure Hackeresque manner: “.. For too long we have tolerated this decline as the result of inevitable market forces. But we can and should stand up for the local pub – and the community links and civic life they sustain. Local pubs are great British institutions – and as Labour leader I would stand up for them.“
I’m sure that there is a serious issue here but doesn’t this come over as being a tad trivial? I know it’s hard for the contenders to command media attention but, surely, there are greater current issues that should be raised at this time than pubs?
I can see this being picked up by his rivals.