Some thoughts on environmental stuff, local rules and regulations, and honours.

Like something from a science fiction story, it’s raining plastic. Well, microplastic. Fibre made from acrylic, probably from clothing, tiny particles that we breathe in and which get into our bloodstream. London has the highest level measured in any city so far. Who would choose to live in London then? And those of us who live in the very outer areas of big cities like Manchester should not be feeling smug. Particle have been found in Arctic snow and mountain soil, and deep down in the ocean. Research indicates that particles can be blown across the world. Oh, boy! It might just be too late! The stuff that made life easier is gradually taking over.

Such is modern life.

Here are some things banned by some local councils:
tree planting (really? Do people randomly plant trees? Maybe so, perhaps trying to counteract the particles!),
uprooting trees, swearing (I would support such a ban, having stood at bus stops and listened to conversations where every third or fourth word was f*** or f******, a word that was only heard in extreme expletives when I was young. What do these people say when they are REALLY annoyed? Or are they always in a state of high annoyance?),
littering (again, yes, I would support that.),
cycling “in a wanton or furious manner”
and a whole host of other stuff.

In Southend-on-Sea “sleeping in a manner which has a detrimental impact on the quality of life of others” is prohibited. This refers, of course, to rough sleeping outdoors. For a brief moment I had an image of Southend-on-Sea councillors checking on people who snored or who tossed and turned too much.

In Gateshead racing and skidding cars in carparks, known as “doughnutting” is prohibited, as is revving car engines around Manchester’s Trafford Centre.

And a surprising number of places make it illegal to “gather” in groups of two or more, apart from couples, dog walkers, runners, keep fit groups, sports teams or community groups. Oh dear, they should keep tabs on the people who “gather” outside the door of the Old Bell Inn next door to us, people who find it impossible to say goodbye to each other and block the pavement in a decidedly Spanish fashion.

While I find much of this banning and prohibiting rather amusing, deep down I am concerned that our society has come to this. Do we really feel the need to ban so many things?

It’s that time of year when honours are distributed. Elton John, already a Sir, is now part of the Order of Companions of Honour. Olivia Newton John is becoming a Dame. The winner of Bake Off, Nadiya Hussain, and the TV chef Ainsley Harriott both get MBEs.

It’s curious the different sorts of things people get honours for.

Some honours and Lordships are coming in for a bit of criticism. Here’s someone writing in the Independent:

“My family have lived in Richmond Park for 20 years and my children have attended our local state schools. I believe in our community and our local politics. But it appears our former MP, Zac Goldsmith, and our prime minister, Boris Johnson, do not.
In making Goldsmith a Lord, allowing him to continue as a government minister despite a thumping loss at the ballot box in Richmond Park, Johnson’s ludicrous branding of this Tory party as the “people’s parliament” is laid bare. The fact that both individuals are on record arguing vociferously against this kind of appointment leaves them no place to hide.
For Goldsmith to be able to sidestep democracy in this way is manifestly an abuse of power and a poisonous example of an old boys network being alive and well. It is taking back control, to coin a phrase, by the landed gentry over the revolting plebs and it should be condemned by every democrat right across the political spectrum.
Goldsmith is also not an expert – one explanation that has been used by some to defend the PM’s poor decision making in keeping him in the cabinet. If the prime minister and his advisor Dominic Cummings really want experts at the table, let them appoint a climate scientist to that role.”

 Is there perhaps a hidden agenda? Hmmm!