More New Labour double standards: Hilary Ben Environment Sec says no rambling on my land.

He is the Environment Secretary who has promised to open up England's coastline to walkers.

But Hilary Benn today finds himself embroiled in a row with ramblers after it emerged that there is no coastal footpath in front of his historic family home.

Instead, signs outside the imposing house on the Blackwater estuary in Essex clearly state "no public footpath", "private garden" and "please do not trespass".

Ramblers can walk along the foreshore at low tide, but they have criticised Mr Benn over the absence of access along a mile of sea wall that includes the estuary frontage at Stansgate Abbey Farm, the country home of his father, Tony.

Locals say the property, bought by the minister's grandfather, William Wedgwood Benn, later the first Viscount Stansgate, is one of only a handful of sites between the Thames and the Wash with no coastal footpath.

The minister also stands accused of a potential conflict of interest, because his department is set to have the power to force such rights of way on landowners.

If proposals put forward by Mr Benn last year become law, his father will have to open a path along the section of the coastline which runs past the property. Should the veteran socialist refuse, it would be his son's job to enforce an access agreement on him.

However, Mr Benn's department is still drafting the rules, and could establish that the sea wall is part of a private garden rather than public land. This would allow his father to keep walkers away from the property.

Last night Peter Ainsworth, the Tory environment spokesman, raised concerns about Mr Benn's position.

He said: "It's odd that a socialist dynasty should be so keen on protecting its private property.

So Ben has done what New Labour MP's do best, of course he means to open up the lands of the rich, the private estates and allow access for one and all, just not his part of the coastline that is. One can be sure that daddy will have his son ensure that none of the smelly poor people come onto the estate, well unless they work there on New Labour minimum wage or are delivering goods to the house. Via the tradesman's entrance of course! After all what you the voters have to understand is that they are very, very important people, far more important than you the mere plebs who vote for them so naturally the same rules that apply to the rest need not apply to them. Please remember that under New Labour policy, which as far as I can see is based on George Orwell's 1984, that some animals are more equal than others. Oh and on top of his salary, paid for by the UK taxpayer Mr Ben also trousered £105,987 in expenses for the year 2006.

Having looked into this, the latest New Labour double standards to hit the press, I have to use a quote found on my local MP's weblog(Paul Flynn, Lab.)

I repost it here, from dire libel case losing MP Paul Flynns webshtye blog.

"I HATE the countryside and everything to do with it, tax-avoiding farmers, blood-lust yokels and inbred simpletons, four-wheel-drive snobs, gun-totting toffs, meat-eating murderers and – finally – I deplore the rural set, who think themselves above anyone else and are wholly out of touch with modern society."

That the opening sentence of an article today by former Countryside Alliance lackey Mark Hinge who now cavorts around Cardiff Bay as a lobbyist.

Got it in one, Mark.

So that is what Paul Flynn, proven liar and libel case loser thinks of the countryside and those who work it. Not his words but as he states, with the phrase "got it in one" he evidently agrees with it.

One can but imagine the chilly atmosphere as they have to sit down to work together in the House. The latest in a socialist dynasty(Ben) desperate to keep the plebs off daddy's land and a mad libel case loser(Flynn) who thinks that anyone outside the city is not worth a shit.

Tags New Labour, 1984, Cool Britannia, politics, Hilary Ben

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