It’s just as I expected: the weekend MSM are in full outcry over the crumbling schools: “Newspaper headlines: Al-Fayed dies and ‘concrete chaos’ at schools” (link). Also as expected, attention is now turning to hospitals, some of which are also crumbling. It’s a perfect example for Whitehall and Westminster producing squirrels for us to look at while preparing something truly abhorrent.

I expected hospitals getting attention as well because this building material would have been used in other public buildings as well. After all, the first warnings came in 1998. Now I wonder if some of the ‘town halls’ and other edifices housing civil serpents, built during those years, are also ready to crumble. It would only be poetic justice. 

I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear that our valiant politicians are back, ready to give their opinion to any journalist who asks, e.g. Labour’s deputy leader Ms Rayner, with a demand for:

“[…] an urgent audit of public sector buildings to look for RAAC, saying: “If public safety is at risk, we need to know urgently. An urgent full audit is required to find out the extent that Conservative ministers failed to replace this dangerous concrete across the public sector estate.” (paywalled link)

Ms Rayner will soon learn that Labour ministers will also ‘fail’ to do this or that because their mandarins provide them with far more ‘urgent’ items to work on for an ultimate peacocking. Now it’s the turn of hospitals, with nurses at the forefront, according to the DT’s headlines:

“Hospital wards may have to close as crumbling concrete crisis spreads – Nurses demand that NHS bosses act ‘urgently’ to make hospitals safe, while patient groups express alarm” (paywalled link)

Of course, NHS bosses were unaware of the dangers of this building material because they had other things to worry about, like supervising doctors who need to be told when and which surgeries to perform. Interestingly, it’s the DM which provides us with some remarkable facts, quoting from a report by the National Audit Office published in July this year, for example that the NAO “found 41 buildings at 23 hospital trusts contained the material, with seven structurally unsound and at risk of collapse.” (link). I wonder if the NAO had reported on this danger in previous years …

We know, do we not, that everything in Westminster ground to a halt because Parliament was in recess and mandarins went on holidays or kept WFH, recalling the shambles that was the sudden evacuation of military and people from Afghanistan where only some lonely low-grade staffer was holding the fort. So no surprise then that nobody noticed. However, even as they provide us with more hair-rising facts, the DM is very careful not to ask inconvenient questions (all emphases are mine):

“The material is structurally weaker than traditional concrete […] with an expected lifespan of 30 years. Builders used it extensively from the 1960s to the 1980s and there have since been warnings about the risk of crumbling ceilings and the catastrophic consequences it could have. […] Since the late 1990s it has become increasingly apparent that the material can become structurally unsound.’.” (link)

Did all those building inspectors across the country not take notice in all those decades? Did they not warn their local and national supervisors? Strange. I now wonder if this material was also used in houses built for social housing …

There was one report in the DT today which explains why No 10 and Whitehall had their hands full with something far more important. This is the issue ‘they’ do not want us plebs to look at:

“Property owners who fail to comply with new energy efficiency rules could face prison under government plans […] Ministers want to grant themselves powers to create new criminal offences and increase civil penalties as part of efforts to hit net zero targets. Under the proposals, people who fall foul of regulations to reduce their energy consumption could face up to a year in prison and fines of up to £15,000.” (paywalled link)

Clearly, this is far more important than addressing the issue of crumbling schools and hospitals! Obviously, Whitehall and government needed to work hard to make certain that all comply with Net Zero crap. Here are more details:

“The proposals are contained in the Government’s controversial Energy Bill, which is set to come before the Commons for the first time when MPs return from their summer break on Tuesday. It provides for “the creation of criminal offences” where there is “non-compliance with a requirement imposed by or under energy performance regulations”. People could also be prosecuted for “provision of false information” about energy efficiency or the “obstruction of… an enforcement authority”. The Bill will replace and strengthen the rules on energy performance certificates (EPCs), which were previously based on now repealed EU law.” (paywalled link)

Will this legislation mean that we all be made to install smart meters? I’m sure of it! In a blatant contradiction, a Government spokesman said: “We have no plans to create new criminal offences, and any suggestion otherwise is untrue.” (paywalled link). Yes, they ‘only’ want to provide ‘guidance’ to landlords, tenants and businesses … how nice. Here is a point which chilled me to the bone:

“Ministers are giving themselves broad umbrella powers to redraw and enforce the system before consulting on precisely which changes to make.” (paywalled link)

“Net Zero über alles”, isn’t it, and forget the safety of public buildings. I’m sure Labour MPs won’t stand up against this new legislation. After all, it provides a nice precedent for other legislations needed to keep us plebs under government boots, with the added benefit to fill the coffers of the treasury.

That’s all I have for today. There’s this cartoon in today’s Times. It’s sweet but it’s easier to blame ‘teh government’ than ask why the Westminster MSM didn’t do their duty and investigate. Have a good weekend.

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