From the BBC:

There is no suggestion councils did not do their jobs properly.

Really? You fucking what? Even if you are a fan of the councils, you have to concede that some are suggesting that councils did not do their jobs properly. Like me. I think, on balance, that the councils - with a hefty amount of help from TFL and the fucking training companies - showed themselves to be utterly incapable of doing their jobs properly. The absolute farce that came after just a little bit of snow can be blamed squarely on those institutions that failed to act on the repeated warnings that a cold snap was coming.

But nothing quite beats the mindless, self-serving justifications of those in local councils. The chairman of the Local Government Association Environment Board, Paul Bettison, is on grabbing onto the excuse making part of his role with both hands:

"The claim that it is local authorities' fault that they cannot run services needs to treated with a huge pinch of gritting salt..."

Oh, ahahahahahaha. Gritting salt. How fucking topical. Shame you couldn't stick some of the gritting salt on the roads rather than just using it as a punchline for a joke that Roy "Chubby" Brown would turn his nose up at.

Bettison goes on to claim that local governments did all they could to take the edge of what TFL were euphemistically - and pretentiously - calling "adverse weather conditions", but they were hampered by the snow continuing to fall. I sorry, but did they not consider for one moment that the snow might continue to fall? And that sometimes the snow can get inches deep? Where the fuck was the contingency plan?

The snow fall was never going to make life easier for people to get around, but the inaction of local governments and transport companies really did help to turn a snowy situation into an utterly crappy one for swathes of people across the UK. And they fucking wonder why we complain about ticket prices and about council tax...

Anyway, enough ranting about the snow for me. Let me summarise with my thoughts on all those who turned my daily commute into an arduous, frustrating trek in the freezing cold in a city that is supposed to be a world leading modern metropolis. They are a bunch of cunts. 

NHS: Still Not Free, y'know

Jackart points to this big pile of steaming pile of crap. The article is just begging to be pulled apart as smug, mindless rubbish - and, in fact, both Jackart and one of the commenters do just this with considerable aplomb. But I'd just like to make one point; something that really gets on my tits because it is just, 100% wrong:

Trev pays £8.54 per month for all his prescriptions thanks to the NHS, because 50 or more years ago, lazy union members helped make sure that a Labour Government was elected which introduced a National Health Service. All the actual medical treatment he has received over the years from his local doctor and in hospital have all been free.

Yeah, because all of the treatment Trev gets is free. It just appears from nowhere. No-one ever has to pay for it. The NHS is free, people! Free! Go enjoy it! It is all for you! For free! Yay!

Except, it isn't free. At all. It is free at the point of service. But everyone has paid for the NHS. Everyone who has ever paid taxes or National Insurance *contributions* has paid for the NHS. Being free at the point of service does not make it free. And if we finally get everyone to understand that the NHS isn't really free, maybe we will get more people questioning whether they are actually happy with the generally rather crappy point of service at the NHS. And maybe, just maybe, gets people to consider whether it is worth keeping the NHS - especially in its current bloated, and utterly ineffective state. 

Derek Draper

The Labour party have found the answer to all of their problems. In the (highly unlikely) form of Derek Draper. Draper is a Nu Labour drone turned psychotherapist who is now going to help Labour on a voluntary basis. What can he bring to the Nu Labour table, I hear you ask?

Draper, whose psychotherapy website describes him as "experienced at treating emotional and psychological issues including: self-esteem, personal development, depression, anxiety, addictions, self-harm, personality problems and family and relationship concerns", will advise Labour on how to win the next election.

Not so sure, if his boasts are to be believed, that he would be best served helping Labour win the election. In fact, if he is a decent psychotherapist, his main focus should be on helping the increasingly insane Prime Minister get through the day.

Anyhoo, the man who has employed Draper (albeit on an unpaid basis) has this to say about his hiring:

"To help with all this I have asked Derek Draper to work with me on a voluntary part-time basis ... Derek ... will be assisting me in thinking through where we need to go organisationally to ensure our campaigning in the next few years matches our past best. I believe we can achieve this goal, despite our financial challenges, if all sections of the party work together."

The problem, of course, is getting all sections of the party to work together. And I rather suspect it will take more than just Draper to make that happen.

After all, who would want to work together with Gordon Brown?