DPM Nick Clegg, Tory council leader Stephen Greenhalgh and incensed Labour MP Andy Slaughter
The hapless minister is dispatched to a photo opportunity at a children’s centre, only to be harangued by parents and the local MP because the facility is being closed. The coup-de-grace comes when, retreating to his government Jaguar, he is presented with “save our home” cards created by young children. This may sound like a plot summary from The Thick Of It but that is precisely what happened to Nick Clegg yesterday.
The following package was broadcast on BBC London News after Political Scrapbook scooped the tale of the DPM’s disastrous visit to Shepherd’s Bush Village Hall yesterday afternoon. Keep an eye out for the flummoxed special adviser, incensed local MP and a distinctly uncomfortable council leader:
Further to the icy treatment of the broadcast media (and parents) depicted in the video, Nick Clegg completely stonewalled the local Fulham Chronicle newspaper and was equally purse-lipped with Labour MP, Andy Slaughter, refusing to back the centre he was using for a photo opportunity:
I asked him in a private interview after he had made pizzas with the kids for the cameras, whether he supported the Shepherds Bush Families Project and wanted it to stay open. He wouldn’t answer – Andy Slaughter MP
En-route to his next engagement Scrapbook hopes Clegg took time to read the cards presented to him by two little girls. They read simply:
“Mr Legg [sic], please save our home”.
