It may be my grumpy old man emerging from its cocoon but I sense that, as MPs drift further away from anything that looks like real power and influence, they become less and less serious
Very true. And the more we fret over the unimportant stuff, the more work we tie ourselves in knots. It would be interesting to take a trip back a hundred years when the Empire was at its peak and there were serious economic and social problems to address. We still built roads and railways and power stations and new houses and giant steamships - and just got on with it.
One small quibble. Smart motorways are a dumb idea. Even if statistically safe, they are a cheapskate solution. Our grandparents would have looked at the problem and come up with a proper solution, like building another road or a railway.
Very true. And the more we fret over the unimportant stuff, the more work we tie ourselves in knots. It would be interesting to take a trip back a hundred years when the Empire was at its peak and there were serious economic and social problems to address. We still built roads and railways and power stations and new houses and giant steamships - and just got on with it.
One small quibble. Smart motorways are a dumb idea. Even if statistically safe, they are a cheapskate solution. Our grandparents would have looked at the problem and come up with a proper solution, like building another road or a railway.
For a constant moral panicker from the UK, here's Hilary Sutcliffe a perfect example of a moral do-gooder who never slows down.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilary-sutcliffe-01235220/recent-activity/all/
All of this. Even the BBC's Chris Mason had to mention Starmer's lack of a tie in the first breath of his report yesterday.