A KENT MP has described the three-minute silence held at midday today to commemorate tsunami victims as "the worst kind of gesture politics".

Roger Gale, MP for North Thanet, said: “I believe that this is the wrong initiative at the wrong time.

"Some self-styled ‘world leaders’ - including Tony Blair - have shown very little leadership when it has been needed in recent days.

“While the public have leaped forward to help, Governments have lagged behind. Those present in this country at the weekend are well aware that people of all denominations and faiths gathered in places of worship to mourn their dead and to pray for the missing and the injured.

“They do not need a state-imposed three-minute pause to underline their feelings at this stage.”

The MP added: "I think that it is wrong, for instance, that a Government Minister should have apparently instructed the BBC to shut down for three minutes: it will help nobody at all.

"There will, certainly, come a time when a proper memorial service and silence of an appropriate length might be held but that time is not now.

"Now, we need to get on with the job of assembling and shipping aid and committing the government machine to match the public support of the rescue, salvage and re-construction programme.

"People have already given incredibly generously but those who feel, as I do, might wish to donate a further modest sum to the Disaster Emergency Committee - which would be of some real value - rather than participating in an ill-thought-through endeavour to salve the consciences of some politicians who, when needed, have been found wanting."