UK weather: Conservative energy minister goes to fox hunt while thousands are hit by power cuts

  

Wally-ho: A Boxing Day hunt
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Outraged MPs hounded energy minister Greg Barker today for attending a hunt while thousands of families were without power.

The Tory was blasted for supporting toffs on horseback rather than trying to do something for the distraught households plunged into darkness.

At least 50,000 homes have been cut off and around 1,200 flooded during the fierce Christmas storms.

As 109mph winds battered Britain, Mr Barker was ridiculed after he boasted about attending the Boxing Day hunt in his constituency.


  


Horseback: Greg Barker MP
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Labour MP Tom Watson said: “The energy minister who chose to go hunting during a massive power cut says all you need to know about the priorities of today’s Tories in power.

“He could have used his time to ensure all was being done to get power back to those affected families.

“He could have chosen to support the team of hard working engineers who have lost their Christmas.”

Mr Watson added: “He is the symbol of everything that is wrong with David Cameron’s government.

“He displays a sense of entitlement that embodies the phrase ‘out of touch’.”

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Shadow Energy minister Tom Greatrex said: “The Government and the energy firms should be working round the clock to get everyone reconnected.” Last night an estimated 17,500 homes were still without power.

Mr Barker, whose department is responsible for energy supply, found time to back the hunt in Battle, East Sussex, even though the area has been badly affected by the blackouts.

His message on Twitter said: “Great show of support in #Battle for local #Hunt Boxing Day Meet on Abbey Green. Largest crowd I’ve seen for years, #SupportCountrySports.”


Mr Barker said his own family had no electricity over Christmas.

UK Power Networks estimated that 3,000 people in Kent, Surrey and Sussex had been without power since Christmas Eve and were still cut off.



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....Completely out of touch with real people lives, these poisonous RW cretins from hell