DUP rally to save HP Sauce
More than a hundred MPs have signed a petition asking Heinz, the new owners of HP Sauce, to reconsider its decision to close HP's factory in Birmingham, with the loss of 125 jobs. Heinz say the UK plant is not financially viable and are planning to relocate production in the Netherlands. Three DUP MPs -- Sammy Wilson, Gregoy Campbell, and William McCrea -- have signed the petition.
I always thought HP stood for Houses of Parliament, since the sauce bottles famously feature the Palace of Westminster. But no. Harry Palmer is the name behind HP. In any case, the Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington, Sion Simon has introduced a motion in Parliament that would require the American firm to remove the image of Parliament from all marketing if they move production out of Britain. To add a further level of political intrigue to this story, Heinz is, of course, also the name of Senator John Kerry's wife, an heir to the Heinz fortune. Sauce anyone?
Comments
The MP is right to argue that the Houses of Parliament should no longer be on the HP sauce label if it moves across the water. In the 2004 election, both John Kerry and George Bush sacrificed the substantial amount of money each Presidential candidate is allowed out of United States federal taxes (every taxpayer can designate $3 annually) because they wished to exceed those limits. John Kerry spent some of his own money, not his wife's. A U.S. Senator from New Jersey is a former Wall Street tycoon and bankrolled his own successful campaign a few years ago.