I doubt Gordon Brown was walking along the Southwold promenade today when hundreds of angry protesters demonstrated over government policy of abandoning its crumbling coastline. The Environment Agency plans to withdraw funding for vital flood defences on the picturesque Suffolk coast, leaving clifftops to collapse into the sea.
I was in Southwold a couple of weeks ago on a walking weekend, and I know it is a topic which causes great concern. I imagine the holidaying Prime Minister has not had a very warm welcome from locals who feel very strongly about this issue.
The campaigners linked arms and chanted “SOS” while some held banners saying: “Gord Help Us. Save Our Shoreline.” It can be seen on video from this link.
I hope Gordon Brown takes in some of the local sights, including the bungalow home of this devastated couple further along the coast in Norfolk which has been valued at a paltry £1 because it is perched on the top of a crumbling cliff.
What I do find interesting when I visit Southwold and Aldburgh is that local people do not seem to object to the huge white dome on its doorstep, home of Sizewell B power station.
I hope Gordon Brown checks out whether it is safe from being flooded during tidal surges. I’m not the only one concerned about this, which I have written about before, so is Low Carbon Kid.
I like the cartoon that was in the paper of Brown’s wife saying that ‘Countdown’ needed someone who was fairly good at sums!
Captain Picard, I missed that one.
Ellee, Brown is on holiday. Whatever you or anyone else thinks about his policies, do you really begrudge him some time with his family? Or do you believe that politicans of any stripe should be hounded at all times?
DM Andy, if Brown buries his head in the sand and turns a blind eye to what is happening around him, he may well regret it. And not just in Southwold.
Of course I hope he is having “quality” time with his family too (I do hate that word) – I think he needs them maybe more than they need him right now.