A bit of a slap

There are times I don't want to give politicians a slap to wake them up to reality, but those times are becoming less and less frequent. This morning we had one insightful guy not criticising the possible 40% increase in energy prices, but instead asking "Why are they so high?". Gee I don't know why would prices increase?

The easy target is the companies, but it really isn't their fault it's the basics of supply and demand. If the supply decreases, the price increases... except the supply hasn't decreased, but it might. That is where the trouble lies - Russia has implied they'll shut off the pipelines if anyone interferes with their dictatorship, and Iran has been causing trouble near the main oil shipping route.

The analogy to the current petrol 'crisis' is easy to make - fuel tanker drivers went on strike and petrol stations weren't getting deliveries, but they had plenty of fuel in stock to last out the strike. So why did some stations run out, because they might not have enough fuel to last the strike and you might as well make sure your car is topped up because if you don't and it does run out you're going to be stuffed and more fool you. If the fuel drivers strike hadn't been publicised, if the media hadn't speculated on how much fuel was left nobody would have noticed any difference.

For the 'energy crisis' the same is in affect except this time the deliveries are still coming through but they might not continue to so might as well 'top your tank' and make sure you've got enough - hey look at that more demand for the same supply and up goes the price.

Off from energy we get Ruth Kelly on bicycles "Most short journeys of under 2 miles are done by car" wow yes we should all be either walking or cycling those distances except she doesn't make clear why we take those short journeys by car.

Are you going to do your weekly shop by bicycle, foot or bus if you have a car available? If you're not old enough to get a free bus pass, but still a little cautious of travelling those distances under your own steam are you not going to take your car? Are you going to walk your young children to school (to protect them from the paedophiles, murderers, and Islamofascists that the media constantly tell us are hiding in the bushes) and then walk back, load them up on cycles and try to monitor them in the hurly-burly of the traffic, or just shove them in the car? What if it's tipping down with rain, snow, or hail? Are the buses running on time? Are they running at all? We've no timetables at our bus stops any more so it becomes more a act of strategic planning than a spontaneous desire to pop out somewhere.

I'm not saying we don't take unnecessary trips by car, and I certainly try to walk whenever I can, but it's this kind of blanket statement that requires a slap to the side of the head before some well-meaning soul decides to start fining drivers if their journeys are less then some arbitrarily decided distance because it's 'bad'.