19/08/2010

Huge Metrix Bell Pottinger PR machine

Private Eye has an article today highlighting how much of a fan of the £14bn Metrix project is Chris Bryant labour MP! This new college is now to have many fewer trainees than first expected down to 2,500 and just a few hundred jobs not the 5,000 he continues to claim!! And now we know why as he had a nice cheque for £2,500 from Bell Pottinger lobby group for Metrix  (Raytheon, Serco, Quinetiq, Sodexo/Kalyx) "However money in the shape of the imminent strategicc defence and security review rather than common sense is the biggest threat to the contract prompting Metrix to launch a public relations campaign of military proportions  through PR advisor Bell Pottinger." from private eye 20 Aug - 2 Sept!

We have also heard that a new all party parliamentary group pro Metrix has been sponsored by Chris Bryant of course and Tory MP Alun Cairns!

And then theres the Party conferences happy to take funding and a free dinner from anyone it seems. Metrix are busy organising invites to conference dinners! Kirsty Williams Lib Dem leader seems happy to host a dinner on Metrix behalf. Jenny Willott Lib Dem MP Cardiff Central is one of the first to be invited to the Metrix conference dinner on the 19th July at the lib dem conference in Liverpool. Others on the invite list are Nick Harvey MP, Danny Alexander MP and his special adviser Julia Goldsworthy who as a fromer MP spent over a grand on a rocking chair! 
No money spared from the pro metrix lobby! Where are the democrats?

We are not surprised Chris Bryant Lab MP will be hosting a METRIX dinner at the Labour conference in Manchester or that Alun Cairns MP will be hosting a METRIX dinner at the Tory conference!   

This whole project should be rejected given the huge cost and the fact it is a PFI with no flexibility plus outdated planning for a massive college which isn't needed now the number of trainees is greatly reduced and could be catered for elsewhere in existing military bases such as Cosford. And there is the risk to our forces whose training will suffer at the hands of Metrix members Raytheon and Serco who have just been booted off a huge immigration contract because they were unfit for the job!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You have misspelt QinetiQ. And who are Kelys?