Friday, January 16, 2009

Box tickers rule?

The Daily Mail has a bit if a reputation for the.. 'sensational'.

However, I believe that most are able to separate the wheat from the chaff and, at the end of the day, a fact is a fact.

Woman, 91, dies 'after becoming stressed over £16,000 council bill to make her home eco-friendly'


No one seems to be disputing what happened. Indeed why seems pretty clear.

How is another matter.

Presuming the reporting to be accurate, this story, and quote, suggests that we are in an era embodied by such as the notorious Baby P cases' Sharon Shoesmith, who has a fellow mindset that is hard to swallow:

Councillor Zita Wiltshire, the local housing chief, said leaseholders were consulted on charges in 2006 and made aware of how much they would have to pay.

Cllr Wiltshire said: 'We are sympathetic to the concerns of our leaseholders but the council does spell out the detail of the financial obligations imposed upon a lessee in the terms of each right-to-buy lease.'

I presume her index-linked will easily cover all such demands on her once in retirement.

This is not the way to save the planet, or indeed sell the wisdom of all necessary measures to help do so.