Knowing how tight Gordon Brown keeps his purse strings, and condemnation over his inadequate funding for our troops, I wonder how he will feel when he learns that Defra officials stayed at one of East Anglia’s most lavish hotels when investigating the recent bird flu outbreak.
The Ickworth Hotel near Bury St Edmunds is a very special hotel for anniversaries and honeymoons, it is for those who want the best, for those who can afford the best. Defra has refused to say how many staff stayed there, and the total bill to the taxpayer.
Defra’s extravagance has angered local people who ask if they gave any thought to beleagured poultry farmers fearing for their survival, and question why their staff did not use local farm bed and breakfasts for a fraction of the price, and located closer to the bird flu site. Wouldn’t that have made sense and showed how supportive they were towards the local community?
Local MP Richard Spring does not mince his words, he describes it as “a grotesque extravagance” and “spending by Government bureaucracy on a totally inappropriate and offensive scale.”
This is a time when Government should be sensitive to local people, and not be seen to enjoy lavish jaunts at the expense of the taxpayer.
