Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

Counting the Cost

Already there are recriminations over the blanket nature and length of the flight ban over the UK and EU. Part of the trouble is the rule requiring airlines to pay hotel and other costs of stranded passengers. This regulation was established to deal with the practice of over booking. It was never supposed that an event such as a volcanic eruption could ground flights everywhere indefinitely. The cost of compensation to the airlines becomes punitive and out of all proportion to the revenue from the seat sold. This must be dealt with.

As I have said before and now repeat, we also need to deal with this high handed zero risk culture. Safety is not a licence for abdication. You cannot just treat people this way. Not long ago in my local town some wag left an empty carton containing a radio activity hazard sign on the steps of the police station. It was obvious to all but a bufoon that it was entirely harmless, yet the entire area was sealed off and dozens of shoppers, many elderly were held captive in a nearby supermarket for over four hours. The plaintive excuse from the spineless authorities was that public safety came first. This is rubbish. What comes first is common sense, sound judgement and a wise plan. Fortunately none of these people were alive in the war. Had they been in charge we would have lost it for sure.

It is time for a mass cull of these authorities and jobs. Send them all off to build high speed railways and eco energy projects. Give them a purpose in their lives and give us back our own.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Malcolm Blair Robinson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.