The post you are reporting:
I can do little more for the debate but cut and paste a letter I sent to the local press this week:-
'Years ago I recall the County Council used to pay a retainer to farmers who had invested in a snow plough attachment; once a sufficient depth of snow had settled, out they would come to clear the 'B' roads. Not completely, of course, but down to driveable condition, and the council gritters could economically deal with the thin layer remaining in their own time. No more alas; word is that the Treasury is no longer prepared to turn a blind eye to the use of red diesel for highways work, and no farmer is going to keep a tank of road diesel just on the offchance.
Years ago, urban streets were furnished with salt bins, kept stocked by the councils, ostensibly for the use of street sweepers to spread, but in practice a community resource as people cleared their sections of pavement and those of elderly neighbours with it. Again, no more; we can't be trusted with such things these days. One council even warned householders not to clear the pavement - on the grounds that if anyone slipped on the cleared section, the householder would share liability for damages.
I suspect this risk averseness will dominate many people's thinking; if I slip and fall, who can I sue? Who's to blame for the snow? No doubt oleaginous lawyers across the land are already squidging their pudgy damp palms in glee at the sueing opportunities. And as half the country seems paralysed (with many Londoners imagining that those warnings not to travel unless absolutely necessary apply to them) our surrender of personal responsibility to the State seems complete. Wait for the State to clear the snow. Wait for the State to bring you food.'
