TPA condemn firefighters for saving trapped duck


by Sunny H    
November 10, 2009 at 12:12 am

The TaxPayers Alliance today even criticised firefighters for saving a duck.

The Press Association reported today that firefighters were described as going “beyond the call of duty” during the six-hour rescue of a pet duck from a water pipe.

Watch manager Chris Barton, from Stroud Fire Station, said the service had a humanitarian role and was able to answer the call as no other emergencies were going on.

Nevertheless a TaxPayersAlliance spokesperson fumed:

Whilst no one likes to see a duck suffering, animal rescue is not the central job of the fire service. In this case there were no emergency calls pending, but calls can crop up at the last minute which could be much more pressing than the rescue of a duck.

Jonathan Calder at Liberal England retorted:

Amazingly, though, the same thought had occurred to the Gloucestershire Fire Service. The Independent report quotes Chris Barton from Stroud Fire Station as saying that if there had been an emergency the crew would have broken off from the duck rescue and returned later.

Isn’t it remarkable how sensible some people can be, even if they are not clever enough to work for right-wing think tanks? The trouble is, people who work for right-wing think tanks tend to be the sort of people who can imagine nothing better than an evening at home sniffing their money. Dead ducks mean nothing to them.

Give me the British people’s sentimentality about animals instead.

Indeed.

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· About the author: Sunny Hundal is editor of Liberal Conspiracy. He works full time as a journalist, commentator, blogger, activist and general layabout. He was voted Guardian blogger of the year in 2006. Also at: Pickled Politics, on Twitter and Comment is free.

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27 Comments in response   ||  



Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Liberal Conspiracy

    TaxPayers' Alliance condemn firefighters for saving trapped duck: http://bit.ly/2vF3fE

  2. Ged Robinson

    RT @libcon: TaxPayers' Alliance condemn firefighters for saving trapped duck: http://bit.ly/2vF3fE

  3. Mark Pack

    Liberal Conspiracy » TPA condemn firefighters for saving trapped duck http://bit.ly/2vF3fE

  4. Other TaxPayers Alli

    RT @libcon: TaxPayers' Alliance condemn firefighters for saving trapped duck: http://bit.ly/2vF3fE

  5. James Asser

    RT @NigelStanley: TPA condemn firefighters for saving trapped duck http://viigo.im/1rfI > great commentary on the TPA!

  6. Eric Fish

    @RogersPhoneIn : Note RM carried quote from Taxpayers' Alliance on duck story http://bit.ly/9zTsW Can their lack of independence be flagged?

  7. Nigel Stanley

    TPA condemn firefighters for saving trapped duck http://viigo.im/1rfI

  8. uberVU - social comments

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by libcon: TaxPayers’ Alliance condemn firefighters for saving trapped duck: http://bit.ly/2vF3fE…

  9. Web links for 11th November 2009 | ToUChstone blog: A public policy blog from the TUC

    [...] Tax Payers Alliance condemn firefighters for saving trapped duck Prime “You couldn’t make it up!” stuff from Liberal Conspiracy Related posts (automatically generated):Wall Street Chaos: Where are the owners?Financial regulation: Economic policy puzzle of the dayGive Blanchflower a gong [...]



Reader comments

This is funny about the TPA, but you got my hopes up that Tory Muppet had returned!!

Kindly, please don’t use images of Tory Muppet unless He is indeed back again.

“Whilst no one likes to see a duck suffering,”

Unless of course it was a Palestinian duck.

And yes Tim can we please have some more Tory Muppet?

What if it was a duck house rather than just a duck? Would the Tory Quacks Payers Alliance have a problem then?

‘The trouble is, people who work for right-wing think tanks tend to be the sort of people who can imagine nothing better than an evening at home sniffing their money.’

Good grief. Overdoing the generalisations a bit aren’t we, dear boy? Its no wonder Liberals have replaced George Bush as the world’s ‘dummies’.

Lets hope Liberals never get elected to government of the UK since replacing all the seats in Parliament with fences to sit on would be quite expensive.

Let me ask you. Have you ever considered the benefits of an education?

@4.

Actually, there is correlation between those with right-wing views and a lower marginal propensity to spend. That doesn’t imply causation of course, but there is an element of truth in the statement.

Love ducks myself, a la orange..

Ooooh, Guido’s being edgy and controversial again! Watch out universe!

This is a case of flagrant discrimination which must be addressed by legislation.

A recent case in the news was a lady in northern parts who dialled 999 to summon aid for her trapped hamster only to have that dismissed as gross misuse of the emergency services.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8133679.stm

Yet we now have a case where the fire services spend 6 hours rescuing a trapped duck.

Why the positive discrimination favouring ducks?

Is there a Home Office policy on this too that we don’t know about?

Ducks are gang rapists.

I suppose they deserve partial credit for not trying the usual fraud of claiming it cost some arbitrary, large, amount of money (say £10,000), obtained by apportioning the cost of the equipment and staff wages, while ignoring that it would still have to be spent even if they weren’t doing anyhting.

Dead ducks mean nothing to them.

Hereby nominated for the Party Hack Beyond the Call of Duty Comment of the Year Award.

Presumably the water pipe had a function which was being impaired by having a duck in it. Pulping a living duck to get it out without making an effort to save it would be bad PR and possibly illegal.

If they weren’t actually doing anything else then this could be seen as a useful training exercise for, um, something a bit like a duck in a water pipe.

As an Anatidaephobic, I always support publicly funded duck rescue. (Glances nervously over shoulder.)

Shatterface,

Sure, you are quick to condemn ducks, tarring all with the same brush while ignoring the millions of moderate law-abiding ducks, but I notice you say nothing about dolphins. I think we know where these double standards come from.

‘Sure, you are quick to condemn ducks, tarring all with the same brush while ignoring the millions of moderate law-abiding ducks, but I notice you say nothing about dolphins. I think we know where these double standards come from.’

You are suggesting I ignored sexual violence among cetaceans on porpoise?

15. The Grim Reaper

Can’t we just drown the Taxpayers Alliance spokesperson instead?

Is there a Home Office policy on this too that we don’t know about?

Obviously there was a conspiracy by ZaNuLabour to rub the faces of the right in duck celebrating diversity while condemning the hamsters because they didn’t vote for them.

‘Can’t we just drown the Taxpayers Alliance spokesperson instead?’

You are mallard-justed.

And once again it’s the public who foot the bill.

Anatidae sum it is too.

(Sorry!)

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