Firstly, the really ‘bad news’. It’s terrible. Punctually on this day – the 1st October if you’ve lost count – there’s the weather warning of snow and ice to come. Worse though is that the editors of the DM are shamelessly using this ‘warning’ as click-bait, under the headline “SNOW is on the way along with rain and floods with temperatures set to plummet 10C as winter takes a grip” (link). Just keep being afraid, very afraid, you peasants!

Do these ‘experts’ mean we’re already in the ‘grip of winter’, even though the leaves on most trees haven’t turned yet? The article’s introductory sentences read as if they came straight out of a medieval almanac, predicting doom, gloom and destruction:

“Britain is bracing itself for snow and floods with temperatures plummeting by 10C as wintry conditions start to take hold. Meteorologists believe snow could fall in parts of the UK in the coming weeks with more rain and wind on the way first. A cold front will strike, bringing floods and stormy weather, with heavy downpours expected.” (link)

We’re clearly in make-believe country: “Meteorologists believe” snow could fall, somewhere in the UK, at some time! Do they not have data to show that this will occur, opposed to what they think might occur some time in the future?

Are local councils and the Highways Authority now expected to rush around and dust off their snowmobiles because ‘meteorologists believe’? Don’t forget that it’s us who’ll pay for this and, winter and early snow or not, we’re already warned that local council taxes may have to rise by £500pa. The reason for that is, frankly, disgusting:

“Council tax will have to soar by a quarter over the next three years to keep vital services running at current levels – adding nearly £500 to average yearly bills in the latest hammerblow to under-pressure household finances. The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils need an extra £8billion by 2024/25, largely due to an ageing population that means more will need social care. The extra money is needed merely to keep social care services at the same quality as at present, even though thousands of people are already being forced to do without the help they need.” (link)

This begs the question: why would people need to pay more ‘for the elderly’ when they and others who need social care are already ‘forced to do without’? Cynical me thinks this ‘social care for the elderly’ is more about ‘caring for the pension pots ‘of the Local administrators – shame if they’d have to ‘go without’! 

A cynical commentator might also observe that, given the rise in household fuel bills, the elderly who are still stubbornly clinging to their homes will possibly be ‘culled’ because they will again have to either heat or eat. Those whom covid hasn’t ‘got’ in the last 18 months, that is. 

But perhaps this ‘snow and ice’ warning is a clever ‘nudge’ to get us peasants to rush to the High Street shops, to stock up on winter boots, warm jumpers, candles and matches and tins of food? After all, more consumption is ‘a good thing’, keeping the economy going and producing money for Sunak, isn’t it.

Never mind that this means shoppers will use the petrol they’ve managed to gather, like proper hunter-gatherers hunting down the elusive petrol pumps still dispensing that fuel! Is that what ‘the nation’ needs just now, at a time when some petrol distributors howl that they’re still ‘dry’?

The Times has found a ‘Whitehall analysis’. They don’t say if this was a secret government paper, leaked to them. Perhaps the nudge unit suggested that ‘leak’? That analysis provides another astonishing indication of Whitehall mandarins being as infantilised as they’ve infantilised us:

“Average fuel levels at forecourts remain at 20 per cent for the fourth day running, compared with a usual 43 per cent. Industry sources have said there could be disruption for up to a month. The Whitehall analysis categorises each region as red, amber or green. It shows that in England, London, the southeast, the northwest, and the west and east Midlands are rated red, with levels of less than 20 per cent.” (link, paywalled)

Let’s not ask why forecourts only operate with an “usual“ 43% capacity! What is wrong with having 80% or more? Let’s instead just stare at those handy traffic-lights describing the situation – who needs proper, detailed numbers when having to take far-reaching decisions! I wonder if in ancient times, e.g. during WWII, government ministers decided the fate of the nation, from war material production to preparation for D-Day, on traffic light schemes.

Petrol delivery firms, forecourt owners, trade associations: all are accusing the government of not doing enough, using highly emotive language – anything to make themselves look like innocents caught out in a dreadful situation not of their own making:

“Garages in some areas have been without fuel for five days, according to industry sources, leaving rural residents trapped in their homes. Meanwhile, pharmacies said they were struggling to access vital medicines.” (paywalled link)

Of course not one example is given. The aim is to make us plebs weep and support their demand that ‘government must do something’. These ‘bosses’ don’t seem to notice that they are thus showing, for all to see, that they are like the NHS: nobody needs to prepare for anything because there will be enough money and there will be ‘guidance’ for every decision they need to make.

The cries about lack of lorry drivers is again splashed across the papers. Don’t expect the reporters to ask why, if “The UK is facing a shortage of 100,000 drivers after between 16,000 and 20,000 European drivers returned home after Brexit”, the Haulage bosses haven’t addressed the lack of 80,000 British lorry drivers. Instead, we get to read the outcry of an anonymous ‘supermarket CEO’, reinforcing the wails by the Hauliers Associations.

Yon CEO claims that the government’s proposal of giving 5,000 EU lorry drivers three-month visas is ‘doomed to fail’ and that there will be ‘shortages at Halloween and Christmas’. Does he, do they, do the reporters not know that the wonderful EU also experiences a shortage of HGV drivers? Apparently not:

“The prime minister is being badly advised about drivers. We need many, many more than 5,000 to stem the issues in the short term,” the chief executive, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “Three months is ridiculous. Why put a number or a timeframe on it when it’s not relevant and by next autumn market forces will have kicked in?” (link, paywalled)

Instead of demanding that GPs do the medicals HGV drivers need to produce before they’re allowed on the roads, instead of demanding that the DVLA pull their socks up and deliver the licences HGV drivers need – nah, let’s flex the Remain muscles, shall we, and blame Brexit.

Never mind that such warning means us plebs might well rush out and panic-buy Christmas stuff now, petrol shortages or not. Perhaps that fabulous nudge unit ought to have nudged those bosses, as they have apparently tried to nudge local councils with ‘language advice’, i.e.not speaking about ‘panic’:

“Leaked documents produced by the Cabinet Office’s behavioural science team, known as the “nudge unit”, told local authorities to instead use phrases such as “filling up earlier than usual” and “changed patterns in demand”. “The term ‘panic’ can then lead to behaviours that look like panic as people assume others are in a heightened state of threat, which is contagious,” the document said. “Do not link behaviours to moral values such as taking fuel away from those that need it the most, as this could lead to psychological reactance and backfire.” (paywalled link)

What staggeringly profound insight! A pity that the nudge unit didn’t nudge the MSM and all those business associations! Suitably ‘nudged’, will we be told next that we must wait for government ‘guidance’ regarding how, when and what to shop, even as anonymous CEOs warn of shortages, as pharmacists warn of shortages, as petrol still isn’t available? 

Well, I for one wouldn’t be surprised in the least if the nudge unit weren’t already preparing the ground for a modern version of Ration Books – perhaps a nice little App, with ‘jab passport’ included? Perhaps they’re working on a ‘voluntary lockdown’, with WFH and the elderly – of whom there are so many clogging up shops and petrol forecourts – being ‘nudged’ into staying at home, for the good of society? I expect we’ll have a ‘window of freedom’ until CarrieBo’s star project, COP26, will be over. After that all bets are off.

I won’t be surprised any more by whatever this sorry excuse of a government will do next. However, the ‘Law of Unintended Consequences’ will strike again. It hasn’t been suspended,  and there’s nothing the nudge unit can do about that.

 

KBO

 

 

 

Photo by HonestReporting.com

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