On a very good turnout in last week's Fun Online Poll (thanks to all 139 people who took part), your forecasts were:
When do you think your local council will run out of salt and grit?
They've probably run out already - 40%
After it's been snowing for a couple of days - 27%
After it's been snowing for a couple of weeks - 24%
I'm sure they've learned their lesson and can cope with anything - 9%
For the benefit of those who chose the last option, Anti-Citizen One refers us to this: Big freeze: Britain's grit reserve half the size it should be. Round my way, most of the snow has melted away of its own accord, but you only have to drive a couple of miles into the countryside and there is still plenty left; if the pictures on BBC News 24 are to be believed, there are vast swathes of the country where people are still snowed in a week later.
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One of the few ideas that the Tories have been touting for years which did not promptly get dumped once they were in government was to have locally elected police commissioners.
It's not quite clear to me how or whether this would all 'work', but as a dyed-in-the-wool democrat, I've never seen a convincing argument against them. So, without further ado, that's the topic of this week's Fun Online Poll.
Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.
A small change of theme
43 minutes ago
5 comments:
"It's not quite clear to me how or whether this would all 'work', but as a dyed-in-the-wool democrat, I've never seen a convincing argument against them."
Isn't that a convincing argument?
Not knowing how they will work?
Here is one argument - having power in one person's hands could lead to corruption/incomptence/etc - a small group of people would have checks and balances.
Anon: "Isn't that a convincing argument? Not knowing how they will work? Here is one argument - having power in one person's hands could lead to corruption/incomptence/etc"
OK, let's compare like-with-like. Imagine we have these locally elected commissioners, in some areas things would have improved and in some they will be worse, so people have to learn by trial and error.
How bad would things have to be before somebody has the bright idea of scrapping them and returning all powers to unelected police commissioners and the Home Secretary? How is that not 'having too much power in the hands of a very small group without checks and balances'?
True grit, Marck, true grit.
Disclaimer: gritting roads is manifestly a good thing.
However, the idea that a bit of grit will prevent 30 inches of snow from appearing is laughable.
When you are shown a photograph of a car on a basically clear road that has spun out of control you can reasonably shout "why didn't they grit it". When you see a picture of a queue of buried trucks in a sea of white, with the road invisible because of snow you can reasonably shout "grit? grit? you might as well throw a tampon in the Thames to stop flooding".
We've all become a little obsessed with gritting (mostly because of how incompetently the local councils have organised it). But gritting isn't a panacea.
JH, ?
OP, yes, there's snow ploughing involved as well. Even if the piles of snow use up the hardshould and half the slow lane, a motorway is still usable. As people like to say 'Other countries manage' (I can remember my Dad whining about this when I was about five).
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