Tessa Jowell

The press is full of the story that "travellers" or "gypsies" have legally purchased land next to the "country home" of Tessa Jowell and her husband David Mills and then without planning permission proceeded to set up water and electricity supplies before erecting fences and putting down paving for 32 caravans at the site. An absolutely terrible thing to happen and the legal system is deeply flawed for allowing this sort of thing to drag on for years funded by legal aid BUT three things stop me from feeling totally sympathetic to the Mills. Firstly there is Tessa Jowell's voting record, she has voted against a transparent Parliament, voted for introducing a smoking ban, voted for introducing ID cards, voted for introducing student top-up fees, voted against investigating the Iraq war and voted for the hunting ban. Second there is the way that she and her husband separated so readily when the shit started to hit the fan over the Berlusconi tax fraud and money laundering allegations. Third there is the way that she and the Olympic 2012 authorities have treated the Clays Lane residents.