Blunketts Blunder

[rekstout]

Does it really matter that David Blunkett used the work "swamped" in reference to asylum seekers attending certain schools and GP surgeries when everybody is in agreement that the work "overwhelmed" was acceptable - why has the issue of his choice of word completely overtaken the debate - spin to deflect criticism away from policy or political correctness gone mad once again?

[geofbob]

Yes, I think the choice of language is important, but I'm not sure the word "overwhelmed" would have been correct, either - it depends on the size of the school/surgery and the size of the extra intake. A 10% increase in numbers might well be unacceptable without extra resources, but "swamped" and "overwhelmed" seem to suggest a far larger increase, and are possibly out of line with the reality of the asylum issue.

[incitatus]

because people want to detract from the substance of the debate to avoid the tricky questions. I think swamped is fair. I came from a small primary school, which had a sudden influx of pupils from another school which closed. The whole ethos of the school changed overnight. We were swamped. I think it was fair enough to use a common phrase.