AFTER two and a half years of near-constant blundering since the Brexit vote, the Tories should have at least had time to perfect their crisis management strategies.
The latest calamity to face the UK Government is the Gatwick Airport shutdown, caused by drones being flown over the runway.
Time and again under Theresa May’s stewardship, the Tories have found new and innovative ways to combat crises with a level of incompetence not seen since someone let Boris Johnson on a zipwire in 2012.
Police and military personnel, equipped with some of the best tech Saudi Arabian money can buy, failed for hours to ground the “industrial” grade, state-of-the-art flying machines.
However, footage has emerged of Liz Truss in 2016, who inadvertently offered up the perfect solution to the Government’s current drone headache as she was pressed in the Commons on contraband entering UK prisons.
Truss, who is now Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was Secretary of State for Justice at the time.
She said that during a visit to HM Prison Pentonville, she met security services who have had success scaring drones away.
Their secret? Man’s best friend of course.
“They’ve got patrol dogs who are barking, which helps deter drones,” Truss explained to audible murmurings of bemusement. Her own MPs were trying to hold in their laughter.
You (dumb):
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) December 20, 2018
“Robots don’t have feelings”
Government (smart):
“Drones are scared of woofs”pic.twitter.com/0SeS7Onz0v
It is not quite clear how exactly barking will affect a drone, unless the dog is the size of one of the airport's planes.
The resurfacing of the tweet may open a new battlefield in the ongoing Tory civil war, however.
As is standard in an era of backstabbing, the likes of which has not been seen since Julius Caesar was toppled, Truss seems to have contradicted her Tory colleague.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling sought to reassure frustrated travellers on Thursday that there was “no simple solution” to the delays, which had affected around 130,000 passengers.
But what could be simpler than foregoing hi-tech solutions to enlist the help of canine anti-drone squads?
It seems HMP Pentonville patrol dogs aren’t the only ones barking.
Could dogs be used to solve the drone menace? Buy tomorrow's National to find out...
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