Lost in London, The Impressionist once asked a man the way to the nearest tube station. The conversation went something like this:
Man: «D'y want the Northern Line or Bakerloo?»
Imp: «Bakerloo»
Man: «Northbound or southbound?»
Imp: «Southbound»
Man: «Dunno, mate.»
A wind-up. Or maybe the man just wanted to get the question absolutely clear but had no interest in the answer.
This disease is now endemic. No one is interested in answers. Blair's Big Conversation was a fine example. Launched with great bru-ha-ha in November 2003 it was a meaningless stunt whose latent function was to keep the Great British Public otherwise occupied while Blair and his cronies swept their policy failures under the carpet.
Take the Post Office. Another victim of the Blair era's krypto-Thatcherism. It turns out that our dear P.O. is subsidised to the tune of £150m per year allegedly to keep rural loss-making village post offices open. The Royal Mail group, of which the Post Office is a part, made a profit of £537m in 2004/2005. Given this, The Impressionist wonders why the Royal Mail is still receiving subsidies. The Impressionist suggests renaming it to the Black Mail Group.
If the proposal to end subsidies goes through all the wrinklies are going to have to travel many miles to the nearest big town to buy a stamp. How helpful that will be to global warming. The erosion of village life will continue, former communities will become mere dormitories for sharp suited yuppies who spend their time and money elsewhere.
The Impressionist feels the economic question about subsidies could be answered quite easily by Government with its vast civil service. How much will it cost to have 4 million people drive or take the bus 25 miles to buy a stamp? How much will it cost to have thousands of former sub post office employees picking up their dole money? How much will the increased rural traffic accident rate cost in terms of emergency service provision? And so on. It's almost a no-brainer. £150m is a bargain.
The rural elderly and their supporters are understandably concerned. Enough to raise a petition with 4 million signatures.
That's a pretty strong answer. Don't expect Blair to listen to it, though.
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