Over the last couple weeks there have been a number of gaffes by Tory ministers. Most of them have been relatively minor but it doesn't take much to imagine how the press would have treated the story if it had been Labour or Lib Dem ministers.

 

The culture secretary Jeremy Hunt insulted relatives of victims of the Hillsborough disaster by suggesting it was caused by hooliganism.

 

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley criticised Jamie Oliver's school dinners campaign and claimed (wrongly) that the number of children taking school dinners had been falling since the campaign. He has also suggested that the massive reduction in waiting lists shouldn't really be celebrated because it happened as a result of targets.

 

A junior minister called the Speaker a "stupid sanctimonious dwarf".

 

Then there's the worst of the lot - Michael Gove's continued bungling over the school buildings programme. First the fact that the list was leaked to the press before being announced to the Commons and then the fact that the list was littered with errors.

 

Whatever people think of the government's policies, we ought at least to want competent ministers. By their performance over the last few weeks, we seem to have a number of ministers who are not demonstrating competence.

I think the Health Secretary's gaffe is relatively minor so I don't think he should go. I hadn't heard about that junior minister's comment about the Speaker before now, and, although I like Bercow, I think that comment's quite funny. :lol:

 

But Gove and Hunt should be sacked, Gove for the sheer scale of his gaffe and Hunt for the outrageousness of his comment. You're right that, were this a Labour government, the tabloids would've hounded Gove out of his job by now.

Hunt and Gove should definitely go... Absolutely.. I honestly cannot say how sick I've become of the way that politicians, the media, etc have distorted Hillborough and have tried to deflect responsibility away from the Police's actions on the day... Almost 100 people died and scores more injured and still we have people like ©Hunt spreading misleading disinformation. The victims and families of victims of Hillsborough have NEVER been adequately compensated, whereas coppers on the day were on grounds of "stress" or PTSD, a decision which poured salt on the wounds, and now a further insult from a Tory minister... How typical....

 

Gove is just bloody incompetent by the sounds of it, and should go just on that principle alone....

Hunt and Gove should definitely go... Absolutely.. I honestly cannot say how sick I've become of the way that politicians, the media, etc have distorted Hillborough and have tried to deflect responsibility away from the Police's actions on the day... Almost 100 people died and scores more injured and still we have people like ©Hunt spreading misleading disinformation. The victims and families of victims of Hillsborough have NEVER been adequately compensated, whereas coppers on the day were on grounds of "stress" or PTSD, a decision which poured salt on the wounds, and now a further insult from a Tory minister... How typical....

 

I seem to remember a copper getting £330,000 for PTSD and the father of a dead 14 year-old boy got £3,500. Very huge difference that! :angry: