... when I started this Blog, I decided I wouldn't, as a general rule, merely comment on things I had read in the press. But sometimes it's irresistible.
Two items:
- after praising the excellence and high standards of Britain's small village schools, the Government is going to close a large number of them - up to a third of the total - across the country. Such schools are the heart of village and rural life, they have consistently good records in teaching reading, numeracy, and the basic subjects of a primary curriculum, they teach a wide range of other things including community traditions and local history (at the fair in my in-laws' village last summer, little girls from the school led us all in country dancing - a joy) and they foster strong links across the generations...all absolutely crucial at the start of this new century. In a nation of increasing viciousness and crime, they are core centres of real values and achievement, of shared enterprise and useful activity. So our Labour masters plan to close as many of them as they can.
- local authorities are going to start charging fees for collecting rubbish. And they are claiming this will improve the environment! Are they completely daft? Quite obviously, if people have to pay for having rubbish removed, they'll simply dump it somewhere without paying.
A central responsibility of a local Council is ensure basic public services to prevent rats and filth from stacking up in streets and alleys and open spaces. It is what local authorities are for. It is why local taxes are taken from us. Making people pay for this basic service is a negation of what local government is all about. We may as well revert to the 18th-century system of having rich people pay to get things cleaned up in the areas around around their nice homes, while the main public streets are where the poor dump their rubbish.
No, I'm not just an armchair-grumbler. I go up and down our street and collect the rubbish that people drop as they return from the fast-food places nearby, and I have even bought paint-stripper and scrubbed graffitti off local walls. And I'm active with a number of schools, urban and rural. And yes, I do know something of the costs involved in running education and local authorities.
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5 comments:
Candlemas greetings.
Would that the Church were blessed with a new generation of Simeons.
Hello Joanna,
I participated in Martyrs Walk last year and admired you nice talks there. I have seen you on Thursday evening around Chancery Lane Tube Station on my way back from work and wanted talk to you, but I have noticed you too late. It concerns the problem with Fartilisation and Embryology Bill debate scheduled on February 4th in the House of Lord. Encouraged by post on Catholic Action blog I contacted Lord Alton of Liverpool who is well known for his pro-life dedication and work and who actually bravely opposed the bill, which as you may know will legalise experiments with human animal hybrids embryo which in the end may lead to us facing the world with human husbandry farms in the future maybe not that remote future, keeping in mind how relatively easy all the bills promoting pro-choice issues has been amended and put into practice. I sent email to Lord Alton and he answered me sending the list of rallies organised over the country in the next 2-3 weeks, the first starting on Ash Wednesday with Ann Widdecombe in attendance. I post this reply on my blog, http://floscarmelivitisflorigera.blogspot.com
I am writing this just in case you are not aware of this possibility, for the more people know and attend the better for the cause. Thanks for your understanding and time to read this comment which is actually message. God bless, Jolanta
Every day we have new delights!
Close village schools, charge for collecting rubbish what are we paying rates for.
Our rubbish is now collected by three different vehicles. One for garden waste and kitchen food waste (wrapped in old paper), one for recycling and an other. Surely three vehicles for rubbish do more harm to the environment then my mixing up some of my rubbish.
I assume this new law that will force us to pay for rubbish collection is to encourage recycling. In countries such as Switzerland, for example, where recycling rates are much are higher, collection of recyclable materials is free, while it costs money to throw stuff away. I already make an effort to separate recyclable materials, so I'm not too concerned about how this would affect me personally. I worry, however, as you do, that those who are not as diligent will be inclined to dump their rubbish illegally.
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